BT 

317 



<&ux Hotir's $JaraMes, 



LESSONS 



i 

! INSTRUCTION OF CHILDREN IN THE 
CHRISTIAN LIFE. 



REV. F. D. HUNTINGTON, D. D., 

RECTOR OF EMMANUEL CHURCH, BOSTON. 



#«"% 




BOSTON: 
E. P. BUTTON AND COMPANY, 

135 Washington Street. 

1868. 



| LI BRARY OF CONGRE SS, i 

# # 

{UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.^ 



V' 



i/©ut ILorti'a parables. 



LESSONS 



INSTRUCTION OF CHILDREN IN THE 
CHRISTIAN LIFE. 



XjJ^BY THK 

KEY. F.^Df / HUNTINGTON, D. D., 

RECTOR OF EMMANUEL CHURCH, BOSTON. 




BOSTON: 
E. P. BUTTON AND COMPANY, 

135 Washington Street. 
1868. 



IBT377 

■ Ht 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts, 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 

H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 







LESSON 

I. On Parables, as used in the Teachings of 

Jesus Christ 

IT. On the Books in which the Parables of the 
Saviour are recorded .... 

III. Parable of the Diseased and Single Eye 

IV. Parable of the Birds and the Lilies of the 

Field 

V. Parable of the Sower . 
VI. Parable of the Tares . 
VII. Parable of the Mustard-seed . 
VIII. Parable of the Leaven 
IX. Parables of the Treasure in a Field, and of 

the Pearl of Great Price 
X. Parable of the Net 
XI. Parable of the Growing Grain . 
XII. Parable of the Bread . 
XIIL Parable of the Unforgiving Servant 
XIV. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard 
XV. Parable of the Good Samaritan 
XVI. Parable of the Man at Rest at Night . 
XVII. Parable of the Man with many Goods . 
XVIII. Parable of the Master and his Servants 
XIX. Parable of the Barren Fig-tree 
XX. Parable of the Great Supper . 
XXI. Parables of the Tower, and of the King going 

to War 

XXII. Parable of the Lost Sheep, and of the Lost 
Piece of Silver 

XXIII. Parable of the Prodigal Son . 

XXIV. Parable of the Unjust Steward 
XXV. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus 

XXVI. Parable of the Man and his Servant 



5 

10 

15 
21 
27 
32 
36 

40 
45 

49 
53 
56 
61 
65 
70 
75 
79 
83 
86 

92 

96 
101 
107 
114 
118 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



LESSON PAGE 

XXVII. Parable of the Unjust Judge .... 122 

XXVIII. Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee . 128 
XXIX. Parable of the Ten Pounds .... 132 

XXX. Parable of the Two Sons 136 

XXXI. Parable of the Vineyard let out to Hus- 
bandmen 140 

XXXII. Parable of the Marriage-Feast . . . 144 

XXXIIL Parable of the Ten Virgins .... 148 

XXXIV. Parable of the Talents 152 

XXXV. Parable of the Sheep and the Goats . . 156 



NOTE. 



It is the belief of the writer, that a wrong is done to children 
when they are treated as incapable of grasping the great points 
of spiritual doctrine revealed in the New Testament, and as if to 
be Christians were something that they must wait for, as an attain- 
ment of later years. The main object, therefore, has been to ap- 
ply the practical doctrines of Christ, illustrated as they are with 
peculiar power in His Parables, — Repentance, Faith, Purity, 
Fidelity, Self-control, Truthfulness, Justice, Mercy, Devotion, 
Love, — with all possible simplicity, to the hearts of the young. 
Subordinate to this, the purpose has been twofold : first, to trans- 
fer the learner into the scenes and customs amidst which these 
Parables were actually spoken by the Saviour; and secondly, 
to bring the sacred influence of the Parables into the familiar 
sphere where the scholars are daily living. On the one hand, it 
has been thus sought to throw light on the original force and 
meaning of these beautiful passages ; and on the other, to se- 
cure a direct application of them to present duties. 



DIRECTIONS. 



When an answer is long, and consists in the enumeration of 
several particulars, it may be given in parts by two or more 
scholars. So, also, in reciting or reading the parable that con- 
stitutes the lesson. 

Some important questions are repeated in different parts of 
the volume, and the teacher will find it well to repeat many oth- 
ers, in the way of a review. 

When a paraphrase, or explanation of an expression, is given, 
the Scriptural expression itself should always be repeated in 
connection with it. 

Some of the Lessons will probably be found too long for a 
single exercise. It has been thought best, however, not to 
break the unity by a formal division, but rather to leave the 
teacher to separate the examination of each parable according 
to his own judgment. 

It is very far from being desired that either the teacher or 
the pupil should adopt, in the class, precisely the language that 
is set down in these pages. Clauses are frequently thrown 
into the interrogatories that are intended entirely as sugges- 
tions to the teacher. Every intelligent teacher will no doubt 
find some things to be omitted, and many things to be enlarged 
upon. And the most faithful will not be satisfied that the schol- 
ars should literally repeat what is here written, but will encour- 
age them to use these forms of expression as helps, while they 
frame their own replies. 




t 



LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 



LESSON I. 



OX PARABLES. AS USED EN" THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 
CHRIST. 



Q. What is a Parable ? 

A. It is a story told for the purpose of teaching some 
truth. 

Q. Are the things that are related in parables thing3 
that have really happened just as they are told there ? 

A. They are not ; the speaker or writer only imagines 
them to have happened. 

Q. Are the persons who are spoken of in parables 
real persons ? 

A. Generally they are not ; they exist only in the 
imagination or the thoughts, and therefore may be called 
imaginary persons. 

Q. Is there any falsehood in thus relating things that 
never took place, and the actions of persons that never 
lived ? 

A. There is not. because it is always well understood 
by those that hear or read the parable that it was not 
intended to represent facts, but was meant as a fiction. 

Q. What would make a parable a falsehood ? 

A. If the speaker or writer had any intention to de- 
l 



2 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

ceive others, and to make them believe something that is 
not true, then he would be guilty of a falsehood. 

Q. What, then, may a parable be said to be ? 

A. An indirect way of teaching truth by a fiction. 

Q. "What other name may be given to a parable ? 

A. It may be called an allegory ; and sometimes it is 
only a comparison of one thing with another, for the sake 
of illustrating it, or making its meaning more plain. 

Q. Suppose you wished to show some one how much 
better it is to be kind than to be selfish, how might you 
attempt to do it ? 

A. I might simply say that it is better to be kind than 
to be selfish. 

Q. But would this be sure to make an impression, 
and be remembered ? 

A. It would not. 

Q. How, then, might you make this important truth 
more striking and impressive ? 

A. I might use my imagination, and tell a story of 
two children, one of whom should be kind and the other 
selfish ; I might give them names, and speak of them just 
as if they were real children ; I might fancy a place for 
them to live in, and describe that ; and then I might go 
on to show how much more noble, useful, and happy the 
kind child would be than the selfish one. This would 
be a parable ; and I should show by it how much better 
kindness is than selfishness. 

Q. Is it always mentioned, at the beginning or the end 
of a parable, what moral lesson it is designed to teach ? 

A. It is not ; very often the occasion when it is 
spoken, or some circumstances about it, will help the 
hearer to make out very clearly what the right applica- 
tion of it is. 



# LESSOXS OX THE PARABLES. 3 

Q. Is this way of teaching much used now ? 

A. It is not, though among some nations it is more 
common than among us. 

Q. What nations have been particularly fond of this 
mode of speaking ? 

A. The nations of eastern countries, and especially 
those of that part of Asia where the Jews lived, and 
where the Bible was mostly written. 

Q. When a piece of writing contains a great many 
comparisons, figures, and images, what do you call it ? 

A. Poetical, because poetry abounds in such figures 
and comparisons : or imaginative, because the imagina- 
tion of the writer is so lively in drawing these compari- 
sons, and pointing out the resemblance between one 
thing and another. 

Q. What, now, was the reason that those people, 
among whom the Bible was written, were so much in 
the habit of using parables, and other figures of speech ? 

A. They had, naturally, very poetical and imaginative 
minds. 

Q. What are some of the parables of the Old Testa- 
ment? 

A. There is one recorded in 2 Sam. xii., which was 
spoken by Nathan ; another is in 2 Sam. xiv. 

Q. Whom were these Xew Testament parables spoken 
by? 

A. By the Saviour, who included them in His dis- 
courses, with precepts, and other instructions. 

Q. What was His object in delivering so many para- 
bles? 

A. To make His followers feel the importance of their 
various duties to God and to their fellow-men. 

Q. As we read these parables even now, more than 



4 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES, 

* 
eighteen hundred years after they were first delivered, 

how do they still seem to us ? 

A. Very beautiful and very interesting. 

Q. How does Jesus make spiritual realities and duties 
simple and easy to our understanding ? 

A. He compares them, in these parables, to common 
objects, — objects that we are familiar with, and can see 
or hear or taste or touch. 

Q. What shall we find, as we go on, to be some of the 
natural objects that are compared by Christ to spiritual 
things ? 

A. Grain, sheep, a candle, a pearl. He compares 
goodness to mustard-seed ; a sinful man to a tree with 
bad fruit, and to thorns and thistles ; and good men to 
trees with good fruit. 

Q. What is one peculiarity of the parables of the 
Saviour ? 

A. These stories are remarkably natural in them- 
selves ; that is, they relate things which are likely to 
happen, and have nothing strange or marvelous in them. 

Q. What is another peculiarity about them ? 

A. Generally each parable relates to something that 
took place at the time when it was spoken, and some- 
times to some object that was in sight at the moment. 
Luke xi. 1-9 ; xii. 16 ; xiv. 7 ; and perhaps Matt. xiii. 3-8. 

Q. How do these parables of the Saviour illustrate His 
benevolence ? 

A. He longed to make his followers and all mankind 
feel the Truth that He came into the world to declare, 
because He knew that it would make them pure and 
holy and happy forever ; and He spoke it in parables, 
because He knew that in that simple and engaging form 
it would be most likely to reach their hearts. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 5 

Q. What should you 'always seek first, when you read 
or study a parable ? 

A, To find out exactly what duty, or what religious 
lesson, Jesus intended to teach by that parable. 

Q. What should you next endeavor to do ? 

A, To apply this lesson, whatever it is, to my own 
heart and my own conduct, so as to be made better 
by it. 

Q. If you do this sincerely and earnestly, what may 
you always hope for as your reward ? 

A. I shall find my reward in the improvement of my 
own character, in the delightful feeling that I have done 
right, and in being sure that I have pleased my Heav- 
enly Father. It will be as if I had been sitting at my 
Saviour's feet, and listening to him. 



LESSON II. 

ON THE BOOKS IN WHICH THE PARABLES OF THE 
SAVIOUR ARE RECORDED. 

Q. If you had been among those first disciples of the 
Saviour who heard His gracious words and witnessed His 
holy example, what desire should you naturally have 
felt after He was put to death by His enemies, and had 
ascended from the world ? 

A. A desire to have some account of His wonderful 
teachings and actions written down and preserved. 

Q. Does this desire seem to have been felt by those 
who were actually the companions and disciples of Christ 
in His earthly life ? 

A. It does ; for we find that four of them did write 



6 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

such accounts of their Master's life, and their four books 
have been placed one after another in the Bible. 

Q. Who were these four disciples of Christ ? 

A. St Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. 

Q. Where do you find the names of the twelve men 
that Jesus chose to be His disciples ? 

A. In St. Matthew x. and St. Luke vi. 

Q. What is the meaning of the word " disciples " ? 

A. It means learners, and it is applied to these twelve 
because they were peculiarly called to be faithful learn- 
ers of Christ their Master. 

Q. What other name is given by Jesus, in these pas- 
sages, to the " twelve " ? 

A. He calls them " apostles." 

Q. Why does he call them " apostles " ? 

A. The word apostle signifies a messenger, or a person 
sent forth ; and it was given by Jesus to these twelve 
because he sent them forth to teach His Gospel to man- 
kind, and plant His Church. 

Q. Which of the four disciples, mentioned above as 
having written histories or biographies of Jesus, belonged 
to the company of these Twelve Apostles ? 

A, St. Matthew and St. John. 

Q. What name is often given to these four books ? 

A. They are named the Four Gospels. 

Q. Why are they named so ? 

A. Because each one of them contains a gospel ; that 
is, a record of that divine revelation of religious truth 
which God made to the world through the life and 
words and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

Q. What does the writer of each of them do ? 

A. He gives a faithful narrative of what was said and 
done by the Saviour during His ministry in Judea. 



ia 



LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 7 

Q. How are these four Gospels commonly desig- 
nate 

A. By the names of the writers : as. the Gospel by St. 
. or according to St. Matthew, or St. Mark, or 
Luke, or St. John. 
Q. In what othei La the word gospel used? 

A. It is often used without any reference to these 
particular writings, and to signify, in general, that whole 
revelation of spiritual truth, and of God's fatherly love 
and mercy, which came through Christ. See Acts xx. 
24; Eph.i. 13. 

Q. What is the difference between these two meanings ? 
A. In the latter case, the doctrine or message itself is 
intended ; in the other, the written account of that mes- 
:he record of that doctrine, is intended. 

.at are the writers of these four Gospels called ? 
A. Evangelists. 

o 

Q. Why are they called s 

A. From the word t Thich means gospel. 

Q. What is the original meaning of evangel, or of the 
word in the Greek lanoruag'e from which it is derived ? 
. A message of good news, or glad tidings. 
Q. Why is this an appropriate name for the gospel ? 
A. It is glad tidings because it shows us how to es- 
cape from sin and misery, how to be holy and happy ; 
and it promises forgiveness from our Father in heaven 
n we repent, believe, and are baptiz 
Q. What langu : _ rere these books written in ? 

. In the Greek. 
Q. When and where were they all translated into 
_Iish. as we now have them ? 

More than two hundred years ago. in the time of 
* James tl . in England. 



8 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. For what reasons are we to regard these books as 
accurate and trustworthy ? 

A. They were written by honest and good men, in- 
spired by the Holy Ghost, who kept them clear from 
error ; they were written within a few years after Christ 
was put to death, and while the events they describe 
were fresh in their memory ; and they were received as 
correct by the men of their own time, who were ac- 
quainted with all the circumstances. 

Q. What worthy tribute has been paid to these ac- 
counts by all generations since they were written ? 

A. While other records have perished or been set 
aside, these have been preserved, reverenced, and studied 
with delight, by Christian persons in all ages. 

Q. Ought we not to be especially thankful that we 
have more than one such account ? 

A. We ought ; for what was omitted by one or more 
of these writers, we find mentioned by another : and 
every thing that Jesus did or said is unspeakably valu- 
able to us all. 

Q. What excellent means had they for knowing the 
truth concerning the matters that they described ? 

A. St. Matthew and St. John were companions of the 
Saviour, seeing what He did and hearing what He said ; 
while St. Mark and St. Luke were intimately acquainted 
with those who were His companions and disciples : so 
that in either case their information was direct and 
exact. 

Q. Do these writers thrust into their books their own 
opinions or comments or guesses, or any commendation 
of their Master ? 

A, They do not ; but with a dignified simplicity which 
makes us believe they were sincere and true, they show 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 9 

ns the Son of God, and give us His own words and 
deeds. 

Q. Did these writers always put down the events just 
in the order in which they happened ? 

A. They did not; but that order has been pretty 
clearly made out by scholars who have compared their 
accounts together. St. Luke follows the order of events. 

Q. Where are you told who St. Matthew (or " Levi," 
his other name) was, and how he w r as led to attach him- 
self to Jesus ? 

A. In his own Gospel, ix. 9 ; and in other places he 
is mentioned among the other Apostles. 

Q. Who was St. Mark, the author of the second Gos- 
pel ? 

A. St. Mark, or " John Mark," or " Marcus," as his 
name is sometimes written, was the son of a pious woman 
living at Jerusalem, — a companion and friend of Peter, 
Pa al, and Barnabas, disciples of our Lord. See Acts 
xii. 12, 25 ; xiii. 5, 13 ; 1 Pet. v. 13 ; 2 Tim. iv. 11 ; 
Col. iv. 10. 

Q. Who was St. Luke, the author of the third Gos- 
pel ? 

A. He seems to have been a fellow-traveller with St. 
Paul, a friend of other disciples, a physician, and a de- 
vout Christian. He wrote also the Acts of the Apostles. 
See Col. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. iv. 11. Compare Acts i. 1, and 
his Gospel, i. 3. 

Q. Who was St. John, the author of the fourth Gos- 
pel? 

A. The " beloved disciple " of Jesus, the son of Zebe- 
dee, a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee, and probably 
near to the Saviour during His ministry. See Matt. iv. 
21 ; Mark i. 19, 20 ; John xiii. 23 ; xxi. 20-25 ; Acts iii. 1. 



10 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Where are these four Evangelists supposed to have 
written their Gospels? 

A. St. Matthew in Judea ; St. Mark at Rome ; St. 
Luke in Greece ; and St. John at Ephesus, in Asia 
Minor. 

Q. Shall we find all the parables of the Saviour re- 
corded by each one of these Evangelists ? 

A. We shall not ; for these, like His other instruc- 
tions, are written in part by one and in part by another ; 
but from the four we may collect them all, and arrange 
them in order. 



LESSON III. 

PARABLE OF THE DISEASED AND SINGLE* EYE. 

Q. Where is the parable of the diseased and single 
eye recorded ? 

A. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, chap, vi., verses 22 
and 23. 

Q. Will you repeat those verses ? 

Q. Does either of the other Evangelists relate to us 
these words of the Saviour ? 

A. St. Luke relates them in chap, xi., from verse 33 
to verse 36, of his Gospel, with a few verbal differences. 

Q. What do you mean by " Evangelists " ? 

A. (See one of the answers in the preceding Lesson.) 

Q. What do you mean by " verbal differences " ? 

A. That some of the words used by St. Luke, in his 
account of this parable, are different from the words 
used by St. Matthew, while the sense, or meaning, is 
substantially the same. 



LESSOXS OX THE PARABLES. 11 

Q. In the midst of what discourse did Christ utter 
this parable? 

A. In His Sermon on the Mount. 

Q. What is the Sermon on the Mount ? 

A. It is that address, or sermon, spoken by Christ to 
his followers, in which He sets forth some of the great 
principles and most important truths which He came 
into the world to teach. 

Q. Why is it called the Sermon on the Mount ? 

A. Because Christ stood on a mount, or elevation of 
land, when He delivered it to the multitudes, who were 
on the side of the hill. 

Q. Where is this mountain ? 

A. It is near Capernaum in Galilee. 

Q. What and where is Capernaum ? 

A. It is a city, near the northern extremity of the 
Sea of Galilee. (See Map of Palestine.) 

Q. Will you point out, on the map, the direction of 
this city from Nazareth, where Jesus had been brought 
up? (See St. Matt. ii. 23, and iii. 13.) 

Q. Will you point out nearly the place where Jesus 
delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and its direction 
from Bethlehem, where He was born ? (St. Matt. ii. 1.) 

Q. How do we know that Jesus was in this place at 
this time ? 

A. By turning to St. Matthew, chap, v., verse 1, 
where the Sermon on the Mount commences, and com- 
paring that verse with St. Matthew iii., verses 13, 18, 
and 23. 

Q. Looking now at the parable itself, — what does 
the Saviour mean when lie says, " The light of the body 
is the eye " ? 

A. He means that it is through our eyes that light 



12 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

enters the body ; that it is only by means of the eye that 
we discern the light and see all outward objects ; while 
without the eye we should be in darkness and see noth- 
ing. The eye is to the body what a candle is to a room 
in the night. 

Q. How do you understand the phrase, " If thine eye 
be single"? 

A. It means, " If thine eye be clear, pure, in a healthy 
state, so as to perceive objects distinctly, without any 
blur or dimness." 

Q. With such eyes, what will be the result ? 

A. "The whole body shall be full of light"; that 
is, light will be transmitted clearly ; the vision will be 
perfect. 

Q. What is meant by the next expression, — " If 
thine eye be evil " ? 

A, " If thine eye is diseased, or blinded" 

Q. If the eye is in this state, what will be the conse- 
quence ? 

A, All will be dark; nothing can be seen, — neither 
the light of sun, nor moon, nor stars, nor any thing 
around us. 

Q. Will you now read St. Luke's account of the same 
passage in our Lord's instructions ? 

A. (See St. Luke xi. 33, and three verses follow- 
ing.) 

Q, What is taught in verse 33 of this chapter in St. 
Luke, which is not found in connection with this parable 
in St. Matthew, but which is found in Matt. v. 15? 

A. That we ought not to cover up the light of knowl- 
edge and goodness ; for that would be like hiding a 
candle under any close vessel, as a bushel ; but that we 
should act so that the truth may shine forth in our good 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 13 

example, as the beams of a candle on a candlestick 
shine far around it. 

Q. Will you state what Jesus intended to teach by 
this parable ? 

A. He intended to convey by it a spiritual truth, and 
not merely to say, that unless the bodily eye is in a 
sound condition we cannot see. 

Q. What is that spiritual truth ? 

A. He teaches us that our minds must be kept pure. 

Q. Why must they be kept pure ? 

A, Because if they are not, they cannot receive the 
light of His truth any more than a diseased eye can 
receive the light of the sun. 

Q. What must we strive to keep our minds pure 
from ? 

A. From all sinful thoughts, and wrong desires, and 
base passions. 

Q. What are some of the things that corrupt the 
mind? 

A. Selfishness corrupts it ; so does intemperance ; so 
does the love of money ; so do anger, impurity, envy, 
and falsehood. 

Q. What effect do these things have on our spiritual 
natures, — our souls ? 

A. They hinder our souls from growing in wisdom, 
benevolence, justice, charity, or in any Christian virtue. 

Q. How can they be said to make our souls "blind"? 

A. They so engross our thoughts with earthly things 
that we are blind to duty and excellence, and do not see 
I the beauty of being good, nor the happiness of loving 
and serving Christ. 

Q. What particular sin had Jesus in His view, proba- 
bly, when He spoke this parable ? 



14 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. Worldly-mindedness, or loving the pleasures, and 
luxuries, and comforts of this life more than our Father 
in heaven. 

Q. What reason is there for supposing that Christ 
alluded particularly to this sin ? 

A. In the preceding passage He had just been speak- 
ing of the importance of having our treasures laid up in 
heaven, and not on the earth. (See verses 19, 20, and 
21.) 

Q. What does this mean ? 

A. That we should prize things that cannot perish, 
such as goodness, kindness, purity, meekness, truth, as 
far more precious than silver or gold, houses or lands, 
amusements or dress, food or drink. 

Q. How does a worldly spirit blind our souls ? 

A. It makes us satisfied with our present pleasures, 
and turns off our thoughts and affections from nobler 
subjects. 

Q. What will become of those pleasures that are 
earthly, and that depend on our bodies ? 

A. They will vanish when our bodies die. 

Q. How will it be with that spiritual happiness that 
comes from doing right ? 

A. That is much grander and deeper in itself, and it 
will remain with us forever in heaven. 

Q. Should we not be as anxious to have our spiritual 
discernment good, as our bodily eyesight ? 

A. We should ; because the things that we see with 
our souls are greater and better than the things that we 
see with our eyes. 

Q. How then may we keep the vision of our souls 
"single," or "clear," so that we may understand the 
truth? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 15 

A. By shunning vice and sin; by obeying our con- 
sciences ; by being just ; by speaking the truth ; by 
being generous ; by praying to God. 

Q. What great motive have we for keeping our 
hearts so pure ? 

A. The purer and better our hearts are, the more of 
Christ's truth shall we understand, the more like Christ 
shall we be, and the more will our Heavenly Father 
love us. 

Q. What other passage in the Sermon on the Mount 
does this parable remind you of? 

A. Yerses 3, 4, and 5 of chap. vii. 

Q. Will you read them and explain them ? 

A. The eye is there compared to the soul ; and Jesus 
teaches that we are very apt to discover and talk about 
other persons' faults, but forget our own ; just as those 
who have great defects or " beams " in their own eyes 
are ready to reproach those who have only " motes " or 
little splinters in theirs. 



LESSON IV. 

PARABLE OF THE BIRDS AND THE LILIES OF THE 
FIELD. 

Q. Where do you find the passage containing the 
parable of the birds and the lilies ? 

A. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, chap, vi., from 
verse 26 to the close ; and in the Gospel by St. Luke, 
chap, xii., from verse 22 to verse 30. 

Q. Of what discourse does it form a part ? 



16 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. It is a part of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. 
Q. Will you repeat this parable, as it is in St. Mat- 
thew ? 

Q. What is Jesus teaching us here ? 

A. That we ought to be more anxious to be good, 
than to be well dressed, or to have delicate food. 

Q. In order to see how Christ introduces this passage, 
and to find the course of thought that led Him to it, will 
you look back, and read verses 24 and 25 ? 

Q. What is the Mammon spoken of in verse 24 ? 

A. Riches, or worldly gain. 

Q. If one should love money more than his Maker, 
what might be said of him ? 

A. That money, or wealth, is his god, and that he 
worships a money-god, or Mammon. 

Q. Is not a person who loves pleasure more than 
duty an idolater ? 

A. In one sense he is so, as much as if he offered his 
worship to a carved image of wood or stone, or to the 
sun or stars ; for he is devoted to earthly things more 
than to God. 

Q. What is one way in which young persons show 
this bad spirit ? 

A. If they would rather do wrong than to give up a 
social party, or resign some favorite plan of pleasure, 
then they love Mammon more than God. 

Q. What is meant when it is said, " Ye cannot serve 
God and Mammon " ? 

A. That we cannot love both God and earthly things 
equally; that we must either love God more than 
worldly convenience and pleasure, and thus be good, or 
we shall certainly love worldly things more than God, 
and thus be wicked. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 17 

Q. Is there any such thing possible as your being 
neither good nor wicked ? 

A. There is not; I must be either the one or the 
other. 

Q. Where are you told which of these you ought to 
be? 

A. I am told by my own conscience, as well as in the 
Bible. 

Q. Does not Jesus tell you which you ought to be, in 
this very passage ? 

A. He does, in verse 25. 

Q. What do you understand by that verse ? 

A. That when I am thinking of what is really impor- 
tant in my life, I should esteem what I eat, and drink, 
and wear, and all my outward possessions, as of much 
less value than my religious character. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. Because " meat," or food, and " raiment," or cloth- 
ing, belong wholly to my body, which is to die and 
decay ; but goodness and truth belong to my spiritual 
part, my soul, which is to live forever. 

Q. When it is said, "Take no thought," &c, is it 
intended that we should not provide any support for our 
bodies and for our friends ? 

A. It is not, for the Bible teaches us that we ought to 
labor and earn our living industriously. 

Q. Will you mention some passages where this is 
said? 

A. Eph. iv. 28; Rom. xii. 11 ; 1 Tim. v. 8; Exod. 
xx. 9. 

Q. How are you to make this labor innocent, and 
guard against becoming excessively attached to your 
gains ? 



18 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. By always working in a religious spirit, and 
always preferring what is right to any selfish enjoy- 
ment. 

Q. "Will you read verse 26, and tell what you under- 
stand by it ? 

A. That if God keeps the birds of the air alive, and 
provides for them while they do not lay up stores for 
themselves, we may be sure He will take care of us, who 
have foresight and reason, and hands to work with. 

Q. What is meant by the expression, "Are ye not 
much better than they " ? 

A. Christ means that every human being must be of 
more worth in the sight of God than a bird can be. 

Q. Why is this so ? 

A. Because every man, woman, and child has an 
immortal soul, a conscience, reason, powers of thought, 
and speech. 

Q. How is the dignity of a human being set forth in 
the Bible ? 

A. He is represented as being made " in the image of 
God " ; as being " but little lower than the angels " ; as 
the chief of all God's creatures on the earth. 

Q. If God has exalted us so highly in our nature, 
what ought we to do ? 

A. We ought to live worthily of such a privilege, and 
to remember what a terrible thing it is to pollute such a 
nature with any sin. 

Q. How do you suppose Jesus came to compare men 
with the birds, in this place ? 

A. It is very probable, that, as He was delivering this 
discourse on a mountain, in the open air, He saw birds 
flying near Him, and pointed to them as He spoke. 

Q. What would He teach us by this comparison ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 19 

A. That we should feel our dependence on God for 
every thing, and not be over anxious about the future 
events of life. 

Q. How does He continue this sentiment in verse 27 ? 

A, He reminds us that we cannot increase our own 
stature, or prolong our own life, in the least ; that it is 
God alone who makes us live and grow ; and that, do 
what we will, we have not power to make ourselves one 
cubit taller, or one moment younger, than we are. 

Q. How much is a cubit ? 

A. It was a measure used by the Jews, in the time of 
Christ, of about one foot and a half in length. 

Q. Many persons show a great deal of attention and- 
care about dress ; what does Jesus say to them, in verse 
28? 

A. That they should learn, from the fact that God 
makes the lilies so beautiful, that it is really His power 
and love, and not their own wisdom, that supplies them 
with clothing. 

Q. Is it not likely that this mention of lilies was sug- 
gested to Jesus as He was speaking, as that of the birds 
was ? 

A. It is ; and that He saw, where He stood, an abun- 
dance of these splendid flowers, which are very beautiful 
in that country, covering the fields around Him. 

Q. TThy does He say that Solomon, in his magnificent 
robes, was not arrayed, or dressed so richly, as a simple 

lay? 

A. To show that the utmost skill of man is inferior to 
the wonderful workmanship of God, who creates and 
colors the flowers. 

Q. Why does He select Solomon in particular ? 

A. Because Solomon was once the king of this same 



20 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES, 

Jewish people, and was distinguished for his riches, 
living in a brilliant palace of gold, and ivory, and 
precious wood. 

Q. Where can you find an account of Solomon and 
his great wealth ? 

A. In 2 Chronicles, chap. ix. 

Q. How ought it to affect us to see, that, after all his 
pains and expenditures, a man is far less glorious in his 
outward appearance than a simple and pure lily ? 

A. It should teach us to regard our outward appear- 
ance as of far less moment than good dispositions within 
the heart. 

Q. What else should it teach us ? 

A. What is said in verse 30, — that if God takes such 
excellent care of even the little flowers and the grass, as 
well as of great worlds and nations, He will also remem- 
ber us, whom He loves as His children. 

Q. Will you explain the expression, " Which to-day 
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven " ? 

A. Jesus represents this flowering grass as being so 
frail, that while it stands green and flourishing one day, 
the next day it may be cut down for fuel to heat ovens. 

Q. If what is so frail is adorned and beautified by 
God, what should we feel respecting our own lot in 
life? 

A. That every thing which we really need will be 
given us from above. 

Q. From this whole passage, what is the chief lesson 
you should learn ? 

A. To trust entirely in the goodness of God, my 
Heavenly Father. 

Q. When you find yourself feeling anxious about the 
future, what should you call to mind ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 21 

A. The words in verse 34, bidding me let every day 
bring its own cares, and not to borrow trouble in ad- 
vance. 

Q. "When you find any of your worldly plans per- 
plexing you, what precept should you remember? 

A. That one in verse 33, where I am told that I must 
seek first after righteousness, and to do the will of God, 
as more important than any thing else can possibly be. 

Q. \Yhen you are disposed to be vain of your per- 
sonal appearance, what should extinguish your pride ? 

A. The thought, that after all I am less beautiful than 
many things out in the fields of nature ; and therefore I 
should be humble and modest. 

Q. Seeing that you are allowed by Jesus to put your 
trust and confidence in your Heavenly Father, and 
know that He is your friend, what should you do in 
return ? 

A. I should daily thank Him, with all my heart, that 
He does take such kind care of me and of all my friends ; 
and I should labor and pray, both to do what He com- 
mands me, and to bear, patiently and cheerfully, what- 
ever He sends upon me. 



LESSON V. 

PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 

Q. Wheee do you find the parable of the sower ? 

A. It is written by St. Matthew in chap. xiii. of his 
Gospel ; by Mark in chap. iv. ; and by St. Luke in 
chap. viii. 

Q. What is the reason the accounts given by these 



22 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

three Evangelists are not precisely alike in their lan- 
guage ? 

A. Each one of them used such words as occurred to 
his own mind, under the direction of the Spirit, without 
copying the others. 

Q. What reason have you to believe that all of them 
have given us the parable substantially the same as it 
was delivered by Jesus Himself ? 

A. The fact, that, while their words are not exactly 
alike, they all convey the same sense, the same mean- 
ing. 

Q. Suppose the three had recorded the parable in 
precisely the same words, what might you possibly con- 
clude ? 

A. That two of them copied their accounts from the 
third, or else that they all copied them from some other 
person ; but now we have the independent testimony of 
three different writers to show us that Jesus did actually 
speak this parable. 

Q. Where was Jesus at this time ? 

A. He was by the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matt, 
xiii. 1), not far from Capernaum. (See map.) 

Q. Turning to the account as it is given by St. Luke, 
chap, viii., will you read the parable itself, in verses 
5-8. What can you suppose might have suggested this 
parable to the thoughts of the Saviour ? 

A, He might have seen near Him the fields where 
sowers sowed their seed, and perhaps a sower at work. 

Q. He imagines a sower to scatter some of his seed 
by the wayside : how would this be likely to happen ? 

A. In that country the farms belonging to different 
men were divided from each other by paths or roads, so 
that the highways passed close by the edge of the 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 23 

ploughed land, and the sower would be very apt to scat- 
ter some of his grain into them. 

Q. Why would the birds of the air find the grain 
there, " by the wayside," more than in the field itself? 

A, Because the ground was trodden hard in the path ; 
but in the field the soil was light and soft, and the seed 
was soon covered by it. Flocks of birds are often seen 
in the East hovering about the sowers. 

Q. The reason why this part of the seed sown did not 
produce any fruit, then, was because it was eaten up by 
the birds as soon as it was scattered : what other portion 
of the seed failed to produce fruit, and why ? 

A. That which happened to drop on rocks and stones 
could not take root, of course, and was soon dried up and 
spoiled by the sun (verse 6). 

Q. What was the difficulty with another part of the 
seed ? 

A. It fell where it had no chance to grow, because the 
ground was already covered and shaded by thorns or 
weeds which strangled it. 

Q. What part was really fruitful (verse 8) ? 

A. That which was scattered on the moist and fertile 
earth which had been ploughed and prepared for it. 

Q. What does Jesus mean by the latter part of verse 8 ? 

A. He means, as in other places where He uses the 
same expression, to call particular attention to what He 
is saying. 

Q. When His disciples ask him (verse 9) to explain 
this parable, what do you understand Him to say in re- 
ply (verse 10 ) ? 

A. He says : " You, my disciples, may understand the 
deep truths and doctrines that I teach " (that is, " the 
mysteries of the kingdom of God ") ; " but I am obliged to 



24 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

teach others, less acquainted with me than you are, con- 
ceited and proud of their knowledge, by putting my in- 
structions into these simple parables ; for though they 
see all my wonderful works, yet they have no faith in 
me, and though they hear my precepts, they do not obey 
them. By speaking to them in parables, or plain stories 
and comparisons, I shall prove them whether they are 
teachable and simple-hearted." 

Q. Will you now read the five following verses, which 
contain Christ's own explanation of the meaning of this 
parable ? What, then, does Christ signify by the " seed " 
spoken of in this parable ? 

A. The instructions of His gospel, — those spiritual 
truths which He gives us to make our lives pure and 
good. 

Q. What is the " field," or soil, in which these in- 
structions are sown ? 

A. The human heart, — all our hearts. 

Q. Jesus speaks of four kinds of persons, who hear 
His truth with very different results ; will you describe 
the first of these, mentioned in verse 12 ? 

A. Those belong to this class, who, after they have 
heard religious instruction, take no pains to remember 
what they have heard, but let other things take away the 
good impression from their minds, as the birds caught up 
the grain that lay on the surface of the road. And this 
is because evil thoughts have run through their hearts so 
long and so often as to trample them down and make 
them hard as a road. 

Q. What is true of such characters ? 

A, They are superficial, empty, and trifling; for they 
forget what they hear, and worldly vanities drive away 
their serious thoughts. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 25 

Q. "What are you to understand by the phrase " the 
devil take th away the word " ? 

A. That the Tempter, through our own bad desires, or 
bad companions, prevents our keeping the right way. 

Q. What is our duty, then, if we wish to " believe 
and be saved " ? 

Am To remember all £Ood instructions that we receive 
from the Bible, from the Church, from our teachers or 
parents ; and then to act upon them, carrying them out 
in our life. 

Q. What if you find it hard to do this ? 

A. Then I must strive the more earnestly, resist the 
temptation, and pray to God to help me. 

Q. In what case would you belong to this class of 
characters ? 

A. If I were to neglect, through the week, the lessons 
I learn on the Sabbath, instead of practising them in ail 
that I do. 

Q. Who are the persons that are compared in this 
parable to the " rock - on which some of the seed fell 
(verse 13)? 

A. They are those who go a little farther in the right 
way than the class before mentioned ; they believe the 
truth they hear, and begin to practice the good; but 
when they are thrown into strong temptations they allow 
their virtue to be overcome, and fall back into sin. 

Q. Why is religious truth on their heart like seed on 
the rock ? 

A. Because it may begin to germinate, or take root, 
but it is soon dried up and perishes. The warmth of 
the rock, heated by the sun, made the seed start " forth- 
with." 

Q. Wha.t are some of the things which often break up 
our religious characters and separate us from Christ ? 



26 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. Our selfishness ; our evil passions, like anger and 
revenge ; thoughtlessness in gay society ; pride in having 
our own way ; our desire to gratify some wrong appetite. 
These scorch the seed. 

Q. How ought we to manage these ? 

A. We ought to control them all by our Christian 
principles. 

Q. How can we strengthen ourselves in these Chris- 
tian principles ? 

A, By studying the example and precepts of Christ, 
and praying for the help of God's Holy Spirit. 

Q. Need we, then, be afraid to join our companions 
and share their amusements ? 

A. We need not, for we shall then be safe against 
temptation. 

Q. Who are they whose hearts are like the soil 
choked with " thorns " ? 

A. They are the persons that allow themselves to love 
money, pleasure, or their earthly business, more than 
they love duty and God (Verse 14). 

Q. If this is their case, wall they not be liable to com- 
mit sin continually ? 

A. They will ; for though their consciences and the 
Bible both warn them not to do wrong, they will not 
heed the warning. 

Q. Must not this be an awful condition for any soul 
to be in ? 

A, It must make us miserable, and destroy all the 
peace and glory of the soul. It chokes our true life. 

Q. Would it not be very ungrateful ? 

A. It would ; for we must remember how much our 
Heavenly Father and our Saviour have kindly done to 
lead us in a better course. 



LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 27 

Q. When our inclination points one way, and duty 
another, which shall we obey ? 

A. Follow Christ, who " pleased not himself." 

Q. If we do this, what shall we be like ? 

A. Like that " good ground," in which the seeds of 
truth and goodness take root and grow up into a plant 
and bear fruit. 

Q. What will our hearts be then ? 

A. u Honest and good hearts," full of joy, nobleness, 
and the peace that Christ gives. . 

Q. If we continue so, choosing duty rather than sin 
and shame, what will be the spiritual fruit that our lives 
will bring forth ? 

A. Righteous actions and pure affections ; our conver- 
sation will be kind and true ; we shall be gentle, and 
upright, and devout. 

Q. What, then, shall be your resolution ? 

A, That whatever I learn from Christ, I will keep 
and obey. 

Q. What is God's blessing on every faithful act and 
feeling ? 

A. It enriches the heart and prepares it for yet greater 
readiness and fruitfulness afterwards. 



LESSON VI. 

PARABLE OF THE TARES. 



Q. Where do you find the parable of the tares ? 
A. In St. Matthew's Gospel, xiii. 24-30. 
Q. It is said, veive 24, that Jesus put forth another 
parable ; what parable had he just spoken ? 






28 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A, The parable of the sower, in the last lesson. 

Q. What makes it appear natural that the one should 
have suggested and led to the other ? 

A. They both relate to the sowing of seed in the field. 

Q. What is that " kingdom of heaven " which Jesus 
compares here to the man sowing seed ? 

A. That phrase has different shades of meaning ; but 
it seems here to mean God's plan of planting the truth 
of the gospel in the minds of men, which is His Church. 

Q. What is that truth represented by in this parable ? 

A. By the good seed which was sown. 

Q. What is represented by the " tares " which some 
enemy came in the night, just after the good seed was 
sown, and sowed on the same field (verse 25) ? 

A. Those bad influences which sometimes come upon 
our hearts after we have been receiving Christian in 
struction, — such as the example of wicked persons, or 
some temptation to do wrong. 

Q. In the parable, Christ imagines the wheat which 
sprung from the good seed, and the tares which sprung 
from the bad seed that the enemy sowed, to be growing 
together ; why would not this be perceived as soon as 
they began to grow (verse 26) ? 

A. We are told that the stalks or blades of the good 
and bad plants were very much alike in their appear- 
ance. 

Q. When the servants, or workmen, of this house- 
holder, or owner of the land, saw that the tares and 
wheat were both growing, what did they do ? 

A. See verse 27. 

Q. What does the owner of the land reply to them ? 

A. He knows that he sowed only the seed of good 
wheat, and therefore he tells them some enemy must 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 29 

have come secretly and scattered the seed of tares on his 
paid. 

Q. What in fact, are these tares ? 

A. They are weeds, called. " darnel," which grow in 
that country (Judea) where Jesus was speaking ; though 
they resemble the wheat in appearance, they are poison- 
ous, and injure the grain. 

Q. What do the servants offer to do ? 

A. To go and pull up these tares at once (verse 28). 

Q. What reason does the owner of the field give for 
not allowing them to do so ? 

A. He fears that, while they pull up the tares, the 
roots of the tares will also bring up out of the ground 
the wheat standing with them (verse 29). 

Q. What course does he command ? 

A. See verse 30. 

Q. Where does Jesus give an explanation of the 
meaning of this parable ? 

A. In verses 37-43. 

Q. Whom does the householder, or owner o£ the land, 
represent ? 

A. u The Son of Man," Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

Q. What is the peculiar signification of this title ? 

A. Jesus, a perfect man, with human body, soul, and 
spirit, applies it to himself in great humility, to show 
that He has feelings like all men, and that He can sym- 
pathize with their wants, and enter into their sorrows, 
although He is also the Son of God ; that He is human 
as well as divine, — God in human flesh. 

Q. Jesus, then, being the sower of the good seed, in 
what field does He sow it ? 

A. In the world (verse 33), — that is, in the hearts 
iankind. 



SO LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. We saw just now that the " good seed " stood in 
the parable for the good instructions, or good principles, 
that Jesus sowed in human hearts ; but here, in order to 
explain himself further, He changed His interpretation a 
little ; what does He put the good seed to signify here ? 

A. " The children of the kingdom " ; that is, not only 
the good instructions of the gospel, but those individuals 
whose characters are made Christian by these instructions, 
and thus made children, or members, of His Kingdom, or 
Church. 

Q. Are not all those who live as Jesus taught us to 
live, being baptized and repenting, " children of His 
kingdom," and members of His Church ? 

A. They are. See Catechism. 

Q. Who are meant by the " tares " ? 

A. " The children of the wicked one " (verse 38). 

Q. Who are these ? 

A* They are Satan's servants ; persons who act on 
bad principles, lead wicked lives, and do not love and 
follow Jesus Christ. 

Q. What is meant by the " devil " that makes us 
wicked, or that sows wicked impulses in our hearts ? 

A. The word " devil " means adversary ; sin is alwa}^s 
an adversary to our souls, the enemy of all our best in- 
terests, the destroyer of our peace and happiness. 

Q. What do you understand by the phrase, " the 
reapers are the angels " ? 

A. At the harvest there are always reapers ; and at 
this " harvest at the end of the world," when good and 
bad persons are to be gathered together, like sheaves of 
grain, at the last judgment, those who gather them will 
be the angels, that is, the messengers of God. These 
angels are " His," that is, Christ's, — who has all the 
power and authority of God. 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 31 

(?.*In verses 40-42, we are told what will become of 
the wicked ; why is their future misery described by the 
Saviour as like that of being burned in " a furnace of 
fire " ? 

A. Because the remorse and shame they will suffer is 
like the anguish of fire burning the body; and this 
image was naturally suggested by his having just said 
that the tares (which stood for the wicked) were cast 
into the fire. 

Q. What do you understand from the expression, 
" there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth " ? 

A. That as these are the actions of persons suffering 
great pain, so will the wricked manifest their anguish 
when they look back on their sins against their Heav- 
enly Father. 

Q. But, on the other hand, w T hat will be the condition 
of the good and the righteous at that great " harvest " ? 

A. They will " shine forth as the sun," be full of joy 
and brightness of spirit, under the approving smile of 
their Father in heaven. 

Q. What do you learn, on the whole, from this para- 
ble ? 

A. First, that here on earth we must expect that the 
good and evil will dwell together ; that the Church will 
have to live in a w r icked world, and that there will be 
wicked men in the Church. 

Q. But what do you learn beside ? 

A. That there must come a time of retribution, — a 
spiritual "harvest-time," — when the wicked will be 
visibly separated from the good ; when the sinful will 
see their sin. in fruitless sorrow, and suffer for it : and 
when the good will find new r joy and a glorious life. 

Q. When you die, how will all your sins appear ? 



32 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. It will fill me with bitter anguish to think of them. 

Q. What must be true of every sin you commit ? 

A. It hinders my Christian growth, corrupts the purity 
of my soul, and prepares suffering for me which I shall 
be sure to feel at the judgment of God. 



LESSON VII. 

PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD-SEED. 

Q. Where is this parable recorded ? 

A. In St. Mark iv. 30-32 ; also in St. Luke xiii. 18, 
19 ; and in St. Matthew xiii. 31, 32. 

Q. Will you repeat it as it stands in St. Mark. 

Q. If the disciples should be discouraged by the two 
former parables, how would this affect them ? 

A. It would cheer and comfort them. 

Q. What other passage shows that the mustard-seed 
here spoken of by Jesus was small ? 

A. From St. Matt. xvii. 20, we should infer that it was 
so spoken of proverbially. 

Q. If it grew to be so large as it is described in verse 
32, must it not have been a different kind of mustard 
from any now known among us ? 

A. Travellers state that it was. One speaks of riding 
on horseback under the branches, and another mentions 
that the birds light on the boughs in large flocks to eat 
off the seeds. 

Q. Do we find accounts in other books of a kind of 
mustard so large as this ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. S3 

A. There are accounts of a shrub of this name, grow- 
ing in the eastern countries, which bears a very small 
seed, but which lives several years, and grows so high 
■ that a man can climb up among the branches. 

Q. Jesus compares to this mustard-seed the w King- 
dom of God" (verse 30) ; what does He here mean by 
this ? 

A. The Church of God, as a spiritual power. 

Q. How is the truth of this comparison exemplified ? 

A. In the spread of the gospel over the earth. 

Q. How did the gospel begin ? 

A, Jesus, a despised carpenter from the little village 
of Nazareth, was at first its only teacher. 

Q. Who followed him ? 

A. Twelve humble men, from obscure places, and but 
slightly educated, went forth as his Apostles to preach 
this religion, and they were everywhere spoken against, 
persecuted, and treated with contempt. 

Q. What would a person looking on, at that time, 
naturally say that this new religion was like ? 

A. It must have appeared so feeble and unlike to live, 
that he might well have compared it to the little seed. 

Q. But what happened soon ? 

A. This Faith was preached by these twelve men in 
various cities, great multitudes of people went to hear 
them, and believed them, and became Christians, and the 
Church arose in her living grandeur on the earth. 

Q. In the course of a few years, what became true ? 

A. Not only large numbers were attached *to the Chris- 
tian faith, but among them were some of the most en- 
lightened and powerful of the earth. 

Q. How did it turn out in the course of a few centu- 



ries 



9 



34 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. All the most important nations in the world were 
nations where this Christian Church was firmly estab- 
lished. (See Daniel ii. 34, 35.) 

Q. At this day, are those nations that are not con- 
verted to Christianity to be compared in knowledge and 
power with the rest of the world ? 

A. They are not. 

Q. What are these nations called, and where are they 
found ? 

A. They are called heathens, or pagans ; and they are 
found principally in Africa, Asia, and some distant parts 
of America. 

Q, If, then, the Christian religion has gone on over- 
spreading the earth more and more with its light and its 
love, is it not very much like that mustard-seed that our 
Lord describes in the parable ? 

A. It is, and we see the appropriateness of the com- 
parison. 

Q. How did the Saviour know, — since His Church, 
when He spoke, had made scarcely any progress, — that 
it was destined to this wonderful success ? 

A. He had a Divine foreknowledge, and He saw be- 
forehand what would happen after He should be taken 
up from the earth. 

Q. How does our Lord say that His death and atone- 
ment will accomplish this ? 

A. St. John xii, 24. 

Q. What ought to be our feeling when we consider 
this glorious -progress that Christianity has made ? 

A. We should be very thankful to God that His provi- 
dence has so ordered it. 

Q. Why, especially ? 

A. Because this Faith saves the soul from sin, ele- 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 35 

vates men's characters, increases their wisdom, and makes 
them better and happier in a thousand ways. 

Q. How shall we be most struck with this fact ? 

A. By looking at the vicious, ignorant, and degraded 
state of all heathen nations. 

Q. How should we feel towards these heathens ? 

A. We should pity them, send out missionaries to 
them, and use all the means in our power to make them 
Christians. 

Q. What personal reasons for gratitude have you ? 

A. I should be very thankful that I was born and live 
among Christian people, and enjoy Christian privileges, 
and not among the pagans, who worship images of wood 
and stone, or the sun and moon. 

Q. But, having these superior advantages, what ought 
you to be in consequence of them ? 

A. I ought to be as much holier in my life, as my 
opportunities are better, a growing member of this grow- 
ing Church. 

Q. Why is the Church to her children like the mus- 
tard-tree to the birds ? 

A. She shelters and feeds them. 

Q. Can you not give this parable an application to 
your own improvement in goodness ? 

A. I can ; and it certainly teaches me that my faith 
and my goodness ought to increase daily, as the mustard- 
seed grew in size. 

Q. How was Jesus an example for you and all chil- 
dren in this respect ? 

A. I read in Luke ii. 52, that, when He was about 
twelve years old, He increased not only in " stature," or 
in size, but also in " wisdom," and, by his Holiness, " in 
favor with God and man." 



36 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. How only can you thus grow ? 

A. By having Christ formed within me. 



LESSON VIII. 



PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 



Q. What is " leaven " ? 

A. It is the substance used in raising dough for bread, 
commonly called yeast. 

Q. Where do you find the parable in which Jesus 
compares the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of 
God, to this leaven ? 

A. St. Luke writes it in his Gospel, in chap. xiii. 20, 
21, and St. Matthew, in chap. xiii. 33. 

Q. What do you infer from the fact that St. Luke 
says Jesus compared the kingdom of God to the leaven, 
while St. Matthew says that He compared the kingdom 
of heaven to the leaven ? 

A. That those two expressions, " the kingdom of 
God," and " the kingdom of heaven," mean the same 
thing, and may be used for each other. 

Q. What may we take either and both of them to 
mean in this case ? 

A. The Church of Christ, with the Gospel doctrine, 
ministry, creed, sacraments, and worship, which He ap- 
pointed and gave her. 

Q. What is the Gospel ? 

A. The message Christ brought, from God the Father, 
into this world, showing us how we may be saved from 
sin. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 37 

Q. What is the meaning of " doctrine " ? 

A. Doctrine means something taught ; and a doctrine 
of the gospel is something that Christ taught in His gospel, 
or His message to mankind. 

Q. In what other passages do we find doctrine, or 
teachings, compared to leaven ? 

A. In St. Matthew xvi. 6, 12. 

Q. Jesus speaks of the leaven as being put into three 
measures of meal ; how much were three measures ? 

A. One measure was a peck and a half; three meas- 
ures were four pecks and a half. 

Q. Why does he mention this quantity ? 

A. Because it was the quantity commonly used at 
once for making bread. 

Q. How was bread baked among the Jews ? 

A. Sometimes in the ashes (see 1 Kings xix. 6), some- 
times on the hearth (see Gen. xviii. 6), and also in ovens, 
made probably of stones, and not resembling ours (see 
Lev. ii. 4). 

Q. When yeast, or leaven, is placed in the dough that 
is made of meal, or flour, how does it operate ? 

A. The yeast spreads and diffuses its influence through 
the whole mass of dough, till it raises it, or makes it liyht. 
(See 1 Cor. v. 6.) 

Q. How is it that the gospel is like this leaven ? 

A. When once it has been made known to the minds 
of mankind, it goes on spreading itself more and more, 
and changing the lives of multitudes of people. 

Q. Had this happened when Jesus spoke these words ? 

A. It had not, for He had preached the gospel in but 
few places, and but few persons, comparatively, had 
heard of it. 

Q. How, then, could He say what He does in this 
parable ? 



38 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. He was a prophet, and knew what would happen 
after He should have departed from the earth, namely, 
that His truth would be believed, and His life be imitated, 
more and more, as long as the world should stand. 

Q. Has this proved true, so far, in history ? 

A, It has. 

Q. How much time has passed since the Saviour de- 
parted from the earth ? 

A. More than eighteen hundred years. 

Q. And has His gospel been spreading through all 
this period ? 

A. On the whole, it has ; and by the efforts of Chris- 
tians, and the blessing of God, some are brought to be- 
lieve and obey it continually. 

Q. What is there for us to do in the matter ? 

A. To try in every way to make Christ known and 
loved. 

Q. How can we do so ? 

A. By being faithful to Him, and showing others what 
a noble and beautiful thing it is to follow Him. 

Q. In what other way may we forward this object ? 

A. By embracing every good opportunity to help in 
giving religious instruction to the ignorant and the sinful. 

Q. We have gained, then, one clear explanation of 
this parable ; will you state it in one sentence ? 

J. As a little leaven raises a large mass of meal, so 
does the Christian faith spread from one heart to an- 
other, and from one nation to another, till it changes the 
life of mankind, and purifies, reforms, and saves the 
world. 

Q. A piece of bread, or dough, is often used as leaven 
to make more bread ; what does this suggest ? 

A, That it is by receiving Christ into the heart that 
the Christian becomes Christ-like. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 39 

Q. What other lesson may you practically learn from 
this parable ? 

A. That the gospel was meant to operate in any in- 
dividual's character as it does in the world at large, — 
namely, to renew it, to change it more and more per- 
fectly from evil to good, till the character is made thor- 
oughly Christian. 

Q. Should we ever be satisfied till this has taken 
place ? 

A. If we were, we should be spiritually dead. 

Q. What is one thing about yourself that you should 
seek to have imbued with a Christian spirit, and gov- 
erned by Christian principles ? 

A. My manner to those about me every day, making 
it gentle. 

Q. What is another ? 

A. My disposition, making me generous and amiable. 

Q. What is another ? 

A. My conversation, making it free from falsehood, 
slander, or profanity. 

Q. How should your faith in Christ make you feel 
and act towards your parents ? 

A. To love, honor, and succor them, and seek to 
please them. 

Q. When you are called on to transact business, what 
should it make your actions in that respect ? 

A. Honest, upright, and fair. 

Q. How should it make you feel towards the sick, the 
poor, the oppressed, and the afflicted ? 

A. It should prompt me to pity them, and be ready to 
help them. 

Q. How should it dispose you towards Jesus Christ ? 

A. It should make me very thankful that He came 



40 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

from heaven for me ; that He suffered in order to draw 
men to believe on Him, and to deliver them from sin ; 
and it should fill me with a resolute desire to serve 
Him. 

Q. How should it make you feel towards God your 
Heavenly Father ? 

A. It should make me thankful to Him for sending His 
Son to be the Saviour of men, and for all His spiritual 
mercies to me and my friends ; and it should lead me to 
love Him, and endeavor to please Him, by doing His will 
all the days of my life. 



LESSON IX. 

PARABLES OF THE TREASURE IN A FIELD, AND OF 
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 

Q. Will you repeat St. Matt. xiii. 44, containing the 
parable of the treasure hid in a field ? 

Q. What was probably meant by this " treasure " ? 

A. Silver or some other precious metal or precious 
stone, concealed under the ground. 

Q. How do this and the next parable differ from the 
last two ? 

A. They relate to the Church as a whole ; these to 
each member of it in his own seeking and finding. 

Q. When the man had discovered that there was such 
a treasure in a field which was not his own, what is he 
represented as doing ? 

A. Hiding it. 

Q. How did he " hide " it ? 

A* The meaning is that he kept it concealed, or 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 41 

rather he kept his knowledge of it concealed, and did 
not tell others that it was there. 

Q. What is meant by the expression, "for the joy- 
thereof "? 

A. In the joy that he felt at the prospect of gaining 
possession of so much wealth. 

Q. What means did he take to get possession of it ? 

A. He bought the whole field where the treasure 
was. 

Q. Why did he sell all that he had ? 

A. To provide himself with money sufficient to pur- 
chase the field. 

Q. Suppose he had told the owner of the field his 
reason for wishing to buy it, or had offered to buy the 
treasure by itself, is it probable the owner would have 
parted with it as he did ? 

A. It is not ; but being ignorant of the value of what 
was in his land, he sold it for less than it was worth. 

Q. Does Jesus imply that it was right for this man to 
keep back what he knew for the sake of making a good 
bargain, and taking advantage of the owner ? 

A. He does not ; on the contrary, we know from the 
whole strain of His teachings, and from the perfect jus- 
tice and fairness of all His actions, that He would look 
upon such a transaction with abhorrence, as being dis- 
honest and base. 

Q. What, then, does He intend to teach by this com- 
parison ? 

A. That the gospel is more precious than silver or 
gold ; and that we ought to be more anxious to have 
it in our hearts than men of business are to secure a 
fortune. 

Q. What is one of two facts, especially, that should 



42 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

make us more eager to gain the goodness and truth of 
the gospel than earthly riches ? 

A. Goodness and truth last forever, and yield ever- 
lasting pleasure ; while earthly riches perish, and are lost 
forever when we die. 

Q. What is the other of these facts ? 

A. Goodness and truth are spiritual possessions, and 
therefore cannot fail to give us satisfaction ; while earthly 
goods often bring as much trouble, anxiety, and sorrow, 
as enjoyment. 

Q. Where are you to find this "goodness and truth"? 

A. In my Saviour. 

Q. Ought you ever to take advantage of another 
person's ignorance, to profit yourself at his expense ? 

A. Never ; such an act is mean and contemptible. 

Q. Suppose that, when you are buying an article of 
another person, you know of some circumstance about it 
which he does not know, but which, if he did know it, 
would make him ask a higher price for it, what ought 
you to do ? 

A. I ought to consider whether he has had fair means 
of knowing what I know ; and if he has not, I ought to 
tell him, and then make my bargain afterwards, even 
though I should be obliged to pay more than if I had 
kept my secret. 

Q. Suppose you had occasion to sell some article, and 
you knew of some circumstance about it which the buyer 
did not know, but which, if he did know it, would di- 
minish the value of the article in his estimation, what 
ought you to do ? 

A. I ought to consider whether he has had fair means 
of knowing what I know, and if he has not, I ought to 
inform him, even though I should receive a smaller 
price from him in consequence. 



LESSONS OlST THE PARABLES. 43 

Q. What may you say of those who pursue such con- 
duct? 

A. That they do business on noble and Christian 
principles. 

Q. How do you learn that this high standard of deal- 
ing is correct ? 

A. My conscience, and the religion of Jesus, tell me 
that it is. 

Q. What parable, having very much the same object 
with this one, is related in verses 45 and 46 of this 
chapter ? 

A. The parable of the pearl of great price. 

Q. Is it meant that the " kingdom of heaven " is like 
the man seeking the pearls, or rather like the precious 
pearl itself? 

A. It is like the pearl itself. 

Q What is a " pearl " ? 

A. It is a small ornament obtained from the shell of 
a kind of oyster, of a whitish color, and having a pecul- 
iar lustre. 

Q. It seems that, in order to purchase this one " pearl 
of great price," the merchant was obliged to part with 
all his goods ; how costly have pearls sometimes been ? 

A. There is an account of one which was purchased 
for about forty thousand dollars. 

Q. Where have the most beautiful pearls been ob- 
tained? 

A, In Arabia, and at the isle of Ceylon. 

Q. What is said of the splendor of the New Jeru- 
salem. — " Jerusalem the golden " ? 
1 A. Rev. xxi. 21. 

Q. What does Jesus teach us by this parable ? 

A. That we ought to prize Him as infinitely more 
precious than the rarest pearl, or the costliest gem. 



44 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What other passage of Scripture may this remind 
us of? 

A. Proverbs iii. 13-15. 

Q. What is meant by the " wisdom " spoken of there ? 

A. The wisdom which leads us to love God, and live 
a holy life. 

Q. For what are we chiefly to prize the gospel ? 

A. Because it shows us the way from eternal death 
to eternal life, by the redemption of the cross ; our 
Heavenly Father reveals to us how ready He is to for- 
give our sins when we repent ; and teaches us how to 
be borne above all the evils of this world. 

Q. What now, is the chief lesson you are to learn 
from these two parables ? 

A. That I ought never to prefer any thing else to the 
love of Jesus, or any place to my home in His Church. 

Q. Suppose that you could not do your whole duty 
without denying yourself some pleasure that your heart 
was set upon, what would your duty be ? 

A. To deny myself that pleasure at once, and do my 
duty. 

Q. What if you could gain money, or admiration, or 
some luxury, by doing wrong, — as by telling a false- 
hood, or disobeying your parents ? 

A. I ought to scorn to purchase either wealth, or the 
favor of other people, at that wicked price. 

Q. When any thing else comes into conflict with the 
life of Christ, so that you must choose one or the other, 
what should your choice be ? 

A. To follow Him, which is always safe and good, 
however great the sacrifice it costs. 

Q. How should you always value your membership 
in Christ? 



* 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 45 

A. Like the "treasure" and the "pearl" in the par- 
ables, so precious to my heart that I should be willing 
to part with all I have beside father than lose it. 



LESSON X. 

PARABLE OF THE NET. 

Q. How many of the parables were probably deliv- 
ered by Jesus on the same day ? 

A. The parable of the net, which seems to have been 
the last delivered on that day, makes eight. 

Q. Will you repeat the circumstances under which 
Christ spoke these parables ? 

A. He was by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, sitting 
in a vessel, while the multitudes of people that He ad- 
dressed were standing and listening to Him on the banks. 
(See St. Matt. xiii. 1, 2.) 

Q. What is the first of these parables, and what does 
it teach ? 

A. The parable of the sower, which teaches how the 
doctrines of the gospel taught by the Church are received 
in the souls of different persons. 

Q. What is the second, and what does it teach ? 

A. The parable of the tares, teaching us that though 
the good and the bad must live together on earth, yet 
there is a moral separation between them which must 
hereafter divide their souls, even as the wheat is gath- 
ered into barns, but the tares are burned up with fire. 

Q. What is the third, and its lesson ? 

A. The parable of the growing grain, which shows 
that we must take the gospel earnestly into our hearts, 






46 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

in order that it may grow in us arid gradually change 
our lives, and bear the fruit of good actions. (See Les- 
son xi.) 

Q. What is the fourth, and its lesson ? 

A. The parable of the mustard-seed, which illustrates 
the progressive nature of Christianity, or how, from 
small beginnings, it reaches great results in improving 
the character, and converting the world. 

Q. What is the fifth, and what does it teach ? 

A. The parable of the leaven, which shows the dif- 
fusive nature of our Christian faith, and how it spreads 
through the heart, or through the community where it 
is welcomed. 

Q. What are the sixth and seventh, and their lesson ? 

A. The parables of the treasure in the field, and of 
the pearl of great price, teaching us the unspeakable 
worth and preciousness of Christ's truth, and its supe- 
riority over every other possession. 

Q. What, now, is the eighth, and what does it show ? 

A. The parable of the net, which shows, like the 
parable of the tares, that though there will be gathered 
into the Church on earth both good and bad, yet that 
these must finally be separated, and only the good enter 
heaven. (See St. Matt. xiii. 47-50.) 

Q. Can you think of any circumstance that should 
have suggested to the mind of Jesus this parable con- 
cerning a net and fishing ? 

A, He was speaking in a vessel, which was, very 
likely, a fishing-vessel, on a sea where many fish were 
caught, and perhaps within sight of nets spread out to be 
dried. 

Q. What should we learn from this custom of our 
Lord, of drawing out religious lessons from common 
events and familiar objects ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 47 

A. To make such things remind us of our duties and 
our spiritual life. 

Q. Looking at this parable 'of the net, what would 
naturally happen if a net were dragged through the 
water, as described in verse 47 ? 

A. It would gather into it various . sorts of fish, — 
large and small, good and bad, and bring them all to the 
shore together. 

Q. What kinds of nets were used by the fishermen 
of Galilee ? 

A. Two kinds, " casting nets," and " draw nets." 
Christ uses a Greek word meaning the draw net, so 
large as take in many kinds of fish. It is sometimes 
half a mile long. 

Q. What fish did the Jews consider " bad " ? 

A. See Leviticus xi. 9-12. 

Q. What is done when these fish of various kinds are 
brought to land ? 

A. See verse 48. 

Q. What are these fish then compared to (verse 
49)? 

A. To those persons, good and bad, who belong, or 
pretend to belong, to the company of Christian believers. 

Q. What will happen at last, when God shall send 
forth His messengers ? 

A. The wicked shall be separated from the good, and 
while the good are made happy in their holiness, the 
wicked will be made miserable by their sins. 

Q. What is that feeling which makes a bad child, or 
a bad man, miserable, when he looks back on the sins 
he has committed, in his words, and thoughts, and con- 
duct? 

A. The accusation of his conscience, or remorse. 



48 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Why is one who is suffering this inward torment 
said to be " cast into a furnace of fire " ? 

A. Because his sufferings will be such as we cannot 
fully conceive of now, and will be like the torment of 
being burned alive. 

Q. Were persons actually burned in those days? 

A. Persons guilty of great crimes were burned, as 
their punishment. 

Q. What do you understand by verse 50 ? 

A. It is descriptive of those horrible agonies which 
sin must some time bring upon the guilty soul. 

Q. After Jesus had finished these parables, what 
question did He put to those who had listened to them ? 

A. See verse 51. 

Q. And what did they reply ? 

A. See verse 51. 

Q. What meaning has the word " scribe " in verse 
52? 

A. It means " scholar." 

Q. What is meant by the phrase, " instructed unto the 
kingdom of heaven " ? 

A. " Instructed to know what the Church of Christ is, 
and what the gospel contains," as these parables had 
shown. 

Q. What does Jesus say that a Christian who knows 
this is like ? 

A. See verse 52. 

Q. Why is he like this householder ? 

A. Because he is thoroughly furnished with spiritual 
knowledge, as the householder is with earthly treasures. 

Q. What does the parable signify as to being in the 
Church on earth ? 

A. That it is our place, and a blessed place ; but that 



LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 49 

there may be bad people in it, as there was bad fish in 
the net, their hearts still selfish and unholy. 

Q. What did Jesus do after *He had spoken all these 
beautiful instructions to the people ? 

A. (See verse 53.) 



LESSON XL 

PARABLE OF THE GROWING GRAIX. 

Q. If you had been standing by the shore of the Sea 
of Galilee, in Palestine, one day near the close of 
Christ's life on earth, what might you have seen there ? 

A. A multitude of people, of all ranks and ages, 
gathered in one spot, in the open air, and listening 
attentively to a teacher who was addressing them with 
wonderful earnestness. 

Q. Who was this teacher ? 

A. Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of men. 

Q. On what subjects did He speak ? 

A. He spoke to those who heard Him of their Father 
in heaven, of their Jiigher duties, their spiritual natures, 
and of the life which their souls should live after death. 

Q. What may you say of these subjects ? 

A. They are the most interesting, and the most sub- 
lime, that can possibly engage our attention. 

Q. How did the Saviour speak of them ? 

A. He spake, we are told, " as never man spake ; " 
and we know that none has spoken like him since. 

Q. Why was this ? 

A. He came into the world, " God manifest in the 
1 flesh," that the world might believe Him, trust Him, and 
learn from Him how to be holy. 
4 



50 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Do not His teachings strike us, of themselves, as 
true and good ? 

A. They do ; something in our own hearts seems to 
assure us, that what He said must be true, and designed 
to make us better. 

Q. What is another circumstance that makes us con- 
fide in Christ and believe on Him ? 

A. The fact that He lived Himself just as he taught 
us to live, and practiced the virtues which He told us to 
practice. 

Q, How does it affect us to see a teacher whose daily 
conduct is not consistent with his good instructions ? 

A. It takes away our confidence in him, because it 
leaves us to suspect that he is not sincere in what he 
says. 

Q, If good persons loved to gather about Jesus and 
hear Him teach when He was on earth, how will good 
children feel about reading and studying what He said, 
as it is written in the New Testament ? 

A. They will love to do so, and they will be eager to 
understand the meaning of His words, and treasure them 
up in their memory. 

Q. Where do you find this parable of the growing 
grain ? 

A. It is omitted by St. Luke and St. Matthew, but it 
is recorded by St. Mark iv. 26-29. 

Q. When His instructions have been received into the 
heart of a man, what does Christ say they are like ? 

A. Like seed planted in a good soil. 

Q. What does Jesus say happens to such seed ? 

A. It swells, takes root, sends up a green shoot above 
tjie surface, and gradually grows till it reaches its full 
size and bears fruit. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 51 

Q. While all this is taking place, has the man who 
sowed it any thing farther to do with it ? 

A. He has not ; it grows, under the care of God's* 
providence, without any farther help from him (verse 
27). 

Q. What mistake is made by some Christians ? 

A. They think too much of themselves, or how the 
seed grows in them, instead of looking away to Christ 
and taking hold of His work among men. 

Q. When Jesus describes the process of the grain's 
growing (verse 28). what does He mean by the " blade " ? 

A. The green shoot that appears first when the grain 
rises above the ground. 

Q. What is the " ear" ? 

A. That part of the wheat that forms on the top of 
the blade, or stalk, to contain the fruit. 

Q. What is the " full corn in the ear " ? 

A, The kernels of grain that ripen just before the 
harvest, and of which the flour is made for bread. 

Q. When this is ripe, what does the husbandman do ? 

A. See verse 29. He both sows and reaps, but in the 
interval he can do nothing to mature his crop. 

Q. What seems to have been the object of Jesus in 
this parable ? 

A. To show His disciples that the work of Christian 

truth in forming a good character is gradual ; that it is 

not all done at once, but that it goes on by successive 

\ stages, as wheat grows, until the character is completely 

formed. 

Q. What, then, are we to remember is of the greatest 
1 importance ? 

A. That we make our hearts like the good soil, and 
really receive into them the holy principles of our 
religion. 



52 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. If we do not heartily receive Ihem, and thoroughly 
believe them, will they bring forth fruit, and make us 
Christians ? 

A. They will not, any more than that soil will bear 
a harvest which is so hard that the seed does not sink 
into it. 

Q. When does the Christian life begin ? 

A. When God's grace first plants it in the soul. 

Q. If we have never passed through this change how 
can we hope to gain it ? 

A. By forsaking our sins, striving continually to be 
holy, and praying to our Father in heaven to help us. 

Q. Then, being baptized, having begun to be Chris- 
tians, what does this parable teach us to do next ? 

A. To go on, to persevere, to grow better and better 
every day, with the helps of the Church. 

Q. How does the comparison of the grain apply ? 

A. As the grain is ever growing higher and more per- 
fect, so should we be ever growing purer, wiser, and 
holier. (See Heb. vi. 1 ; 2 Pet. i. 5-7.) 

Q. In what respects, particularly, ought our charac- 
ters to exhibit this progress ? 

A. In our growing more and more humble, more and 
more truthful and sincere, more and more self-denying, 
gentle, obedient, and devout. 

Q. If, after having pretended to begin the Christian 
life, we miserably forsake it, and go back to sinful habits, 
what shall we show ? 

A. That we did not really take the purpose deeply 
into our hearts, nor strive earnestly enough to follow 
Christ. 

Q. What should be our continual aim and endeavor? 

A. That as long as we live we may never cease to 
grow more and more like our Master and Saviour. 



LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 53 

Q. If this is our course, what may we hope for, at 
that great " harvest " when we shall all rise from the 
dead and appear before God ? 

A. That He will welcome us to His presence, and 
permit us to grow holier and happier in an everlasting 
life. 



LESSON XII. 

PARABLE OF THE BREAD. 

Q. What wonderful work of the Saviour is recorded 
in the first part of the sixth chapter of John's Gospel ? 

A. The miracle by which He fed five thousand per- 
sons with live loaves of bread and two fishes. 

Q. "Where was this miracle performed ? 

A. On the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near 
a city called Bethsaida. (See map, and also St. Luke 
ix. 10.) 

Q. How was Jesus occupied there? 

A. (See St. Luke ix. 11.) 

Q. Where had He been, just before this ? 

A. On the western shore of the' Sea of Galilee, near 
Nazareth. 

Q. What do we learn that Jesus did the night after 
He performed this miracle ? 

A. (See St. John, chap, vi., from verse 1G to verse 21.) 

Q. Where then was He on the following day ? 

A. At or near Capernaum. 

Q. What direction must He have taken to pass from 
Bethsaida to Capernaum ? 

A. (See map.) 

Q. Did the multitude follow after Him' ? 



54 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. (See verses 22-25.) 

Q. What motive did Jesus accuse them of (verse 26) 
in following Him ? 

A, Of a desire to obtain food for the body. 

Q. What admonition does He give them in verse 27 ? 

A. That they should be less anxious to gratify their 
earthly appetites than to gain His truth, which is the 
bread of the mind. 

Q. What does He tell them this spiritual truth, which 
is the nourishment of the soul, will do for them ? 

A. It will give them everlasting life, as what is eaten 
for food supports, in the body, its earthly life. 

Q. How does He say we may obtain this truth to 
nourish our souls ? 

A. By believing on Him, the Saviour, and obeying 
His words : for His Father in heaven had '* sealed," or 
sent Him, that He might teach and save us. 

Q. When the people ask Him (verse 28) what works 
they shall do that will be pleasing to God, what does He 
reply ? 

A. That they should believe on Him whom God sent 
to be their Saviour, even Jesus Christ. 

Q. If we really heartily believe in Christ, shall we not 
obey His precepts? 

A. We must. 

Q. And if we do this, what will His doctrines be ? 

A. Like bread to the body, giving life and energy to 
our souls in this world and after our bodies are dead. 

Q. What did these people allude to, when they said, 
"Our fathers did eat manna in the desert" ? 

A. To the fact that their ancestors, the Israelites, lived 
on manna when they were travelling through the wilder- 
ness from Egypt to Palestine. (See Exodus xvi.) 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 55 

Q. What does Jesus say of this manna, and of Mo- 
ses, who was the leader of those Israelites when they 
received it? 

A. That Moses did not give them the true bread from 
heaven, either in manna or in his laws. 

Q. What, then, is the true bread from heaven ? 

A. It is Christ (verse 33). 

Q, When the people ask Him to give them that bread, 
what does He answer ? 

A. That He does give it to them, because He gives 
Himself to make them good, and He is that bread. 

Q. What do you understand by the figurative language 
in verse 35 ? 

A. That as the body, when it has eaten and drunk 
enough, feels no more hunger or thirst, so whoever takes 
Jesus for his heart, will not feel any inward want, but 
will be satisfied. 

Q. What is the only thing that can really satisfy our 
souls ? 

A. Christ. 

Q. How did the Jews mistake the meaning of Jesus 
(verses 41, 42) when He said He came down from 
heaven ? 

A, They supposed He meant that He bodily came down 
from above the sky, while He really meant that His Di- 
vine nature came and took up our human nature. 

Q. Where does He repeat what He had just said, and 
enlarge upon it ? 

A. In verses 48 to 58. 

Q. What is the meaning of verses 49 and 50 ? 

A. That manna and bread support the body only for 
a time, but cannot prevent its dying at last ; while the 
soul that loves and follows Christ never dies, but lives on 
in glory after the body has decayed. 



56 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What are we to understand when Jesus says 
(verse 51) that He gives His flesh for the life of the 
world ? 

A. That He devoted all His life and at last died on 
the cross to take away their spiritual death, and that 
they might live on Him. 

Q. But how does it appear that you will live forever, 
— that your life will be eternal, — if you are good ? 

A. Because then I shall have Christ my Life living in 
me, and can never perish. 

Q. What, then, should be your grand object now ? 

A. Not so much to provide bodily comforts, as to " lay 
hold on eternal life," in Jesus Christ. 

Q. How do we eat of our Lord's flesh in the Holy 
Sacrament ? 

A. St. Luke xxii. 19 ; I. Cor. x. 16, 17. 

Q. Why, then, should you and all Christians seek and 
prize the Communion of the Lord's Supper ? 

A. Because it is the Christian's special privilege and 
help, a divine means of coming near to Christ, partaking 
of Him, and receiving the rich gift of His Spirit and His 
Life, if only the communicant has " a true penitent heart 
and lively faith." 



LESSON XIII. 

PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT. 

Q. For what purpose did the Saviour give the_ parable 
of the unforgiving servant ? 

A. To teach His followers that they should forgive all 
those that injure them. 

Q. What is the great reason set forth here for our for- 
giving injuries ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 57 

A. The fact that we must depend on the forgiveness 
of our Father in heaven, to have eternal life and peace 
of heart. 

Q. Why is this ? 

A. We have all sinned, and nothing but the forgiveness 
of God can relieve us from the miserable punishment 
of our sins. 

Q. If we would hope, then, to be forgiven, what must 
we first do ? 

A. We must forgive others. 

Q. Is not this plainly implied in one of the petitions 
of the Lord's Prayer ? 

A. " Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them 
that trespass against us." 

Q. In what passages of the Sermon on the Mount is 
the same thing declared ? 

A. In St. Matt. vi. 14, 15, and v. 7. 

Q. In what other part of Christ's instructions do you 
find a passage resembling this parable ? 

A. In St. Luke vii. 41-43. 

Q. -Where is the parable itself recorded ? 

A. In St. Matt, xviii. 23, and the remaining verses of 
the chapter. 

Q. What drew this parable from Him at this time ? 

A. The question asked by St. Peter, one of the Apos- 
tles (verse 21). 

Q. What is the meaning of Christ's answer to that 
question, in verse 22 ? 

A. That we should forgive our fellow-creatures, not 
exactly four hundred and ninety times, but any number 
of times, — an indefinite number, — as often as they 
offend against us. 

Q. How does Jesus explain and enforce His meaning ? 



58 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 



Fa 



A. By supposing a case, and telling the story of 
servant who was forgiven, but who would not forgive 

Q. When the king, in the story, reckons with his serv- 
ants, how much is one of them found to owe him ? 

A. " Ten thousand talents," — an immense sum of 
money, amounting to millions of dollars. 

Q. How would a servant be likely to owe the king so 
vast a debt ? 

A. He was not probably a household servant, but a 
prince or ruler of a station inferior to that of the king, 
and yet having large dealings with him. 

Q. When this servant was found quite unable to pay 
his debt, what did the king command to be done, in order 
that his demand might be satisfied ? 

A. (Verse 25.) 

Q. Was it customary among the Jews to sell persons 
into servitude to pay their debts ? 

A. It was. (See Lev. xxv. 39-41, 47 ; 2 Kings iv. 1.) 

Q. What is meant when it is said that the servant fell 
down and worshiped the king ? 

A. That he prostrated himself, with great humility 
and deference, not that he offered that worship which is 
due to God alone. 

Q. When the servant made his earnest appeal to the 
king, that he might be exempted from this fate, and suf- 
fered to be at liberty till he could repay the money, what 
did the king do ? 

A. (Verse 27.) 

Q. What base and mean thing was this servant imme- 
diately guilty of? 

A. (Verses 28-30.) 

Q. What makes his conduct appear doubly disgrace- 
ful? 



sons 
1.) 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 59 

A. The circumstance that he had just been treated 
with pity and mercy. 

Q. How is this brought out with peculiar force ? 

A. The words used by his fellow-servant ivithout avail 
are the very same words used by himself, which obtained 
the forbearance of the king. 

Q. What otlrer circumstance still further aggravates 
the wickedness of this act? 

A. While the servant had just been released from a 
debt of millions of dollars, he would not release his fel- 
low-servant who was under a debt of only about fourteen 
dollars. 

Q. What was the value of a " penny " among the 
Jews ? 

A. A penny, or denarius, was worth about fourteen 
of our cents. 

Q. After the servant had cruelly and ungratefully 
cast his fellow-debtor into prison, what happened ? 

A. (Verse 31.) 

Q. What did the king say to the servant ? 

A. (Verses 32, 33.) 

Q. Does it appear that the servant had any thing to 
answer to this rebuke ? 

A. He had nothing. 

Q. What then did the king do, to punish such out- 
rageous ingratitude and cruelty ? 

A. (Verse 34.) He delivered him to the " torment- 
ors/' — that is, to the jail-keepers, — who sometimes 
i increased the punishment of prisoners by torturing them 
with whips, or chains, or partial starvation. 

Q. Where do we find the application of this parable ? 

A. In verse 35. 

Q. Who is represented to us by the " king " ? 



60 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, to 
whom we are all accountable. 

Q. Who is represented by the " servant " ? 

A. Any human being, — any one of us. 

Q. If you were that servant, who would your " fellow- 
servants " be ? 

A. All human beings, — members of the great human 
family. 

Q. What is the " debt " spoken of, which we owe to 
God? 

A. That debt that is created by our sins against Him, 
or against His commands ; for our obedience belongs to 
Him. 

Q. Have we not full assurance that our Father loves 
us so tenderly, that He is willing to forgive us whenever 
we repent of our sins ? 

A. We have, both in His word, and in the fact that He 
gave his dear Son to suffer and die to deliver us from 
our sins, and bring us to repentance and salvation. 

Q. If, then, every sin we commit puts us in debt to- 
wards God, since we sin every day, how great must this 
debt be ? 

A. Larger than we can conceive, and infinitely larger 
than the amount of any one's offenses towards us. 

Q. And if our Father is willing to forgive such an 
enormous amount of evil in us the moment we repent 
and forsake it, how should we feel toward the evil that 
we see in our fellow-mortals ? 

A. We should be not only ready, but eager, to pardon 
it, and try to forget it. 

Q. When some of your companions have been unjust, 
or overbearing, or peevish, or ill-natured, — when they 
have ridiculed you, or provoked you, or slandered you, — 
what should you seek first of all things to do ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 61 

, A. To forgive them entirely, from my very heart. 

Q. When a person says that he can forgive an injury, 
but that he cannot forget it, what may you generally 
infer ? 

A. That he does not really, thoroughly forgive it. 

Q. What three high motives especially urge you to 
forgive all who vex or injure you in any way ? 

A. I should do so because my conscience will be peace- 
ful and happy after it ; because Jesus Christ, who is my 
example, did so (see Luke xxiii. 33, 34) ; and because I 
may then hope that my many sins will be forgiven by 
my Father in heaven. 

Q. How is forgiveness connected with love ? 

A, (See St. Luke vii. 41-50.) 



LESSOX XIV. 

PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. 

Q. How will you learn the object and meaning of the 
parable of the laborers in the vineyard, as it is recorded 
in St. Matt. xx. 1-16? 

A. By reading what Jesus had just been saying, in 
the latter part of chap, xix., and especially in the last 
verse. 

Q. What is the meaning of that verse ? 

A. That many who should afterwards become believers 
of the gospel would enter more fully into its spirit, and 
therefore share more largely in its rewards, than those, 
like the Jews, who outwardly professed it at an early date. 

Q. What shows particularly that Jesus designed to 
illustrate this truth by this parable ? 



62 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. The word " for," at the beginning of verse 1 of 
chap, xx., connecting this passage with what goes before. 

Q. How may we vary the reading of the first verse ? 

A. So as to make it, — " God, in His method of re- 
ceiving mankind into the kingdom of heaven, is like," &c. 

Q. Jesus then goes on to compare the Qreator to a 
certain householder. Who are represented by the labor- 
ers that he hired to work in his vineyard ? 

A. Those persons who are invited to come and labor, 
as disciples of Jesus Christ, in works of Christian 'faith. 

Q. Why is a " vineyard " mentioned here ? 

A. Cultivating grapes was a common occupation among 
the Jews ; and a garden or field stocked with the vines 
was called a " vineyard." 

Q. What is the sum mentioned in verse 2 as a day's 
wages ? 

A. A penny, or about fourteen cents, the usual price 
at that time and in that country. 

Q. When was the " third hour " ? 

A. Among the Jews and Romans, the day began at 
six o'clock, a. m., and the hour from six to seven was 
called the first hour ; the third hour would be that com- 
pleted at nine o'clock, A. m. 

Q. The householder hired other laborers at the sixth, 
and others still at the ninth hour (verse 5) ; what would 
those hours be in our reckoning ? 

A. As we just saw, the sixth would reach to twelve 
o'clock at noon, and the ninth to three o'clock, p. m. 

Q. When was the last set of laborers hired ? 

A, At about the eleventh hour, or between four and 
five o'clock in the afternoon. 

Q. At the close of the day's work the owner bade his 
steward pay the laborers ; what was the office of this 
"steward"? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 63 

A. To oversee the affairs of the household. (See the 
Lesson on the Parable of the Unjust Steward.) 

Q. Why did the householder order a full day's wages 
to be given to those who only began to work at four or 
five o'clock ? 

A. Perhaps because he saw that they worked more 
strenuously and faithfully or in a better spirit than the 
others who began in the morning ; perhaps because he 
pitied their condition in that they were not able to obtain 
work and wages through the day. 

Q. What complaint was made by those who had la- 
bored all the clay ? 

A. That their fellows should receive equal pay, with 
less work. 

Q. But did they not receive that for which they fairly 
I agreed," as appears from verse 2 ? 

A. They did ; and therefore they had no right to com- 
plain. All were rewarded. 

Q. Was it not a small jealousy in them to be irritated 
because the householder chose to be liberal to their com- 
panions, as long as he was perfectly just to them ? 

A. It appears so from his unanswerable words in 
verses 13-15. 

Q. What is the signification of the expression (verse 
15), " Is thine eye evil because I am good? " 

A. " Should you feel the bad passion of envy or self- 
ishness because I choose to be generous ? " 

Q. At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus repeats the 
declaration that He made at the beginning ; will you state 
the meaning of this verse 16? 

A. Those who shall learn the Christian doctrine as 
soon as they can shall not suffer because they had not 
the means of learning it sooner ; that is rather their 
misfortune than their fault. 



64 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Had not Jesus here a distinct reference to the Jews 
and the Gentiles ? 

A. Probably He had, and meant to say, that many 
Gentiles (or persons of foreign nations), who might be 
converted to Christianity years after the Jews had heard 
of it, w r ould yet hold a higher place in the scale of Chris- 
tian excellence and joy, on account of their better dispo- 
sitions and lives. 

Q. What lesson may you learn from this parable ? 

A, I may learn to thank my Heavenly Father that He 
has shown this liberal and kind favor toward all His 
children alike ; and that He blesses those who are true 
disciples of His Son, as much in one age of the world as 
in another. 

Q. What other lesson may you learn ? 

A. To despise and shun every feeling of envy or 
malice toward those who seem to be more highly fa- 
vored in any respect than myself. 

Q. What is true of zealous and busy Christians who 
harbor pride, self-conceit, and un charitableness in the 
midst of their works ? 

A. They will be less blessed than the really humble 
and holy who seem to accomplish less. 

Q. What other lesson still, — the most important of 
all? 

A, To embrace with all my heart the faith offered me 
by so kind a Father, and to follow carefully and cheer- 
fully my holy Saviour. 

Q. What is of more importance in our Lord's eyes 
than the quantity of our performances ? 

A. Our Christian spirit in doing it. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 65 

LESSON XV. 

PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

Q. Will you repeat the parable of the good Samari- 
tan ? 

A. (See the Gospel of St. Luke, chap. x. 30-38.) 

Q. How do you learn what was the occasion of 
Christ's speaking this parable ? 

A. By referring to verse 25, and the following verses. 

Q. What was this " lawyer " who questioned Jesus ? 

A. He was a person who gave himself to the study 
and explanation of the written laws of Moses, a " scribe." 

Q. Were the scribes spoken of in the New Testament 
generally estimable characters ? 

A. They were often wantin'g in hearty feeling and 
sincere piety, being, like the Pharisees, more careful to 
insist on ceremonies, and repeat forms and words, than 
to serve God and love mankind. 

Q. What is meant when it is said (verse 25) that this 
teacher of the law tempted Jesus ? 

A. That he put a question from a bad motive, namely, 
a desire to trouble Jesus, and if possible to make Him 
contradict himself. 

Q. Did Jesus refuse to answer him ? 

A. He did not, but took pains to enlighten and im 
prove him. 

Q. Jesus tells this scribe (see verses 27 and 28) what 
it is necessary to do in order to gain eternal life ; how 
then does the scribe raise another question ? 

A. By asking, " Who is my neighbor ? " implying 
that, though it might be his duty to love his neighbor, 
he was not obliged to love all mankind. 



66 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. How does Christ make him acknowledge his mis- 
take, and show him that he ought to love every man, 
even his enemy ? 

A, By relating to him the parable of the Good Samar- 
itan. 

Q. Jesus supposes a certain man to be going from 
Jerusalem to Jericho ; what may have suggested to His 
thoughts these two places, and this particular journey, 
just at this time ? 

A. He may have been in that part of the country 
Himself. 

Q. What reason have you for thinking so ? 

A. We find from other passages that He had just been 
travelling from Capernaum, through Samaria ; from verse 
38 of this chapter, we find that, soon after, He arrived 
at a certain village where Mary and Martha lived, and 
this village we know was Bethany. (See St. John 
xi. 1.) 

Q. Will you point out Capernaum, and Samaria, and 
Jericho, and Bethany, on a map of Palestine ? 

Q. Jesus speaks of this man whom He imagines to 
be going from Jerusalem to Jericho as " falling among 
thieves " ; what reason have we for believing this was 
likely to happen there ? 

A. Travellers who have been there tell us it is a very 
lonely district of country, fall of wild mountains, which 
are infested with bands of thieves and robbers. 

Q. A priest and a Levite are spoken of as passing by 
the poor man, after he had been robbed and was lying 
wounded and helpless, without assisting him ; how would 
it naturally happen that priests and Levites should be 
often on that road ? 

A. A great many of them — twelve thousand, it is 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 67 

said — lived in Jericho, but had frequent occasion to go 
up to Jerusalem, to perform ceremonies at the great 
Temple there. 

Q. Who were the priests among the Jews, and what 
was their business ? 

A. They were the descendants of Aaron, and their 
business was to perform religious offices, to instruct the 
people in the law, to offer sacrifices on the altars, and to 
cleanse and take care of the Temple. 

Q. Who were the Levites, and what was their busi- 
ness ? 

A. They were descendants of Levi ; and they were 
set apart to wait on the priests, as their servants, in and 
about the temple, and sometimes to make music at wor- 
ship. 

Q. If these persons, then, were religious officers, was 
it not peculiarly their duty to aid the distressed, and 
minister to the suffering, like this poor traveller ? 

A. It was ; and therefore their cruelty and hardness 
of heart in passing by him is the more blameworthy. 

Q. Who was it that took pity on the wounded man ? 

A. It was a Samaritan, or man from Samaria. 

Q. But the man he helped was a Jew ; was there not 
a hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews ? 

A. There was. (See St. John iv. 9.) 

Q. Seeing, then, that there was this hostility between 
the two nations, was it not very generous in the Samar- 
itan to overlook the quarrel, and show compassion for 
the Jew ? 

A. It was this that made his act peculiarly praisewor- 
thy in the eyes of Christ, and has drawn toward him 
the admiration of all good men who have ever read the 
storv. 



68 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Is it not always noble and generous to rise above 
our little injuries and hard feelings, and forgive our ene- 
mies ? 

A, Christ forgave even those who slandered Him and 
put Him to death ; and He taught us to have the same 
spirit. 

Q. If we are truly Christlike, what shall we do ? 

A. We shall pity and help one man as well as another, 
even strangers and foreigners. 

Q. What did this Samaritan do for the poor Jew ? 

A. (Verses 33-35.) 

Q. Why did he pour oil and wine upon the wounds ? 

A. A kind of ointment was made of these things that 
was healing. 

Q. How much was the value of the " two pence " that 
he gave to the inn-keeper for taking care of the man ? 

A. About twenty -eight cents in the coin used at that 
time. 

Q. Was not the law-teacher obliged to confess that 
this was true generosity? 

A. He was, though his hatred of the very name of 
Samaritan was so strong that he would not speak it, but 
chose the expression " He that showed mercy on him " 
instead. 

Q. From this parable, whom should we learn to re- 
gard as our neighbors, in the Christian sense ? 

A. Not those who happen to live near us only ; but 
all of our fellow-creatures, for God has made us to sym- 
pathize with all. 

'* Our neighbor is the suffering man, 
Though at the farthest pole." 

Q. How are we to heed the precept with which Jesus 
concluded this parable, — " Go and do thou likewise " ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 69 

A. By endeavoring ourselves to perform kind offices 
for the distressed, and by feeling for others' troubles. 

Q. TThat are some of the classes of persons that we 
ought especially to comfort ? 

A. The sick, the poor, the oppressed, orphans, and 
those that are in affliction. 

Q. Ought we not to think it a privilege to share our 
own comforts with those who have not so many as we ? 

A. If we are truly humane, or truly Christians, we 
cannot do otherwise. 

Q. If we are able to bestow few outward gifts, what 
can we, even the poorest, give ? 

A. Our prayers, kind words and actions, and our sym- 
pathy. 

Q. If we follow the Saviour's pattern of benevolence, 
what shall we be ready to do for the unfortunate ? 

A. To lay aside our own wishes, and deny ourselves 
some pleasures, and incur some labor and inconvenience, 
for the sake of making them happy. 

Q. What duty toward those who have injured or 
vexed you do you learn from this parable ? 

A. To treat them with compassion and generosity, as 
well as those that have befriended me. (St. Matt. v. 
44, 45.) 

Q. If you do this, whose approbation will you be sure 
to gain ? 

A. That of my merciful Heavenly Father, w r ho is 
kind to me, notwithstanding my frequent offenses against 
Him. " He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on 
the good ; He sendeth rain on the just and on the un- 
just." 



70 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XVI. 

PARABLE OP THE MAN AT REST AT NIGHT. 

Q. Where do you find this parable ? 

A. In St. Luke's Gospel, chap, xi., verses 5-8. 

Q. What was the object of Jesus in relating it ? 

A. To teach us to pray, and to continue in the habit 
of praying. 

Q. What great motive does He offer us for frequent 
prayer ? 

A. He shows that sincere, earnest prayer will be an- 
swered. 

Q. From the preceding verses of the chapter, we learn 
what occasion it was that drew from Christ this parable ; 
what do we learn from verse 1 ? 

A. That Jesus was in the habit of praying and com- 
muning with His Father, and that thus He was Himself 
an example of. what He taught us to be. (See also St. 
Matt. xiv. 23 ; St. Luke vi. 12 ; ix. 28 ; St. Mark i. 35 ; 
xiv. 35 ; St. John xvii. 1, &c.) 

Q. It is here that John the Baptist taught his disciples 
to pray. Was it customary in those times for religious 
teachers to instruct their followers, or disciples, in some 
particular form of prayer ? 

A. It was. 

Q. After reciting the prayer which the Church was 
always to use, Christ relates this parable ; how does it 
begin ? 

A. A person is supposed to be called up in the night 
by the arrival of a traveller, who wishes for a lodging 
and a supper. 



LESSOXS OX THE PARABLES. 71 

Q. Is it customary for persons in the country of Judea, 
where Jesus was, to travel in the night ? 

A. It is, because the climate is extremely warm, and 
it is more comfortable to journey in the cool of the night 
than under the sun in the daytime. 

Q. Being thus disturbed, the man of the house finds 
that he has no bread to offer the traveller ; what does he 
do? 

A. He goes to a neighbor, awakes him, and asks him 
to lend him three loaves. 

Q. What reply does the neighbor make ? 

A. That both he and his children are in bed, and that 
he cannot easily rise to get the loaves. 

Q. Is he finally prevailed upon to do so, however ? 

A. He is, by his friend's importunity ; that is, by his 
repeating and urging the request. 

Q. If, then, this neighbor could be persuaded to do 
what was asked by the urging of his friend, and not by 
any hearty desire to accommodate, is it not much more 
certain that our Heavenly Father, who tenderly loves us, 
will grant our requests when we pray to Him ? 

A. This is what Christ designs to teach us. 

Q. How does He show this in verses 9 and 10 ? 

A. He tells us there, in figurative language, that what- 
ever we earnestly ask our Father in heaven to give us, 
for the good of our souls, He will surely bestow upon us. 

Q. What does He tell us in the three following verses ? 

A. That as kind earthly parents, when the children 
they love ask them for good and reasonable gifts, do not 
put them off with worthless or hurtful ones, so our Heav- 
enly Parent, whose love is yet stronger and purer, can 
never refuse to answer our petitions. 

Q. What is meant by the expression, " Tour Heav- 



72 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

enly Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
Him"? 

A. That He will give that Spirit to purify, and guide, 
and bless, and save our spirits. 

Q. What is one of our chief dangers respecting this 
privilege of prayer ? 

A. That amidst our worldly occupations we shall for- 
get and neglect it. 

Q. Shall we not be greatly in fault if we do thus for- 
get it ? 

A. We shall, for it depends on ourselves whether we 
allow ourselves to become so much engrossed with 
worldly things. 

Q. How can we guard against this ? 

A. By setting apart some moments at a certain time, 
every day, for devotion. 

Q. How should we spend such moments ? 

A. Going away alone, we should think seriously of 
our faults, and ask God to pity us and forgive us, and 
help us to amend our lives and to please Him. 

Q. Has He not promised that He will forgive us and 
smile upon us, if we truly repent of our sins and ask His 
pardon ? 

A. He has, many times, in the New Testament. (See 
St. Luke vi. 37 ; 1 St. John i. 9.) 

Q. What assistance should we especially entreat God 
to afford us ? 

A. His help in enabling us to resist those temptations 
to which each of us is especially exposed, so that we 
may not be turned aside from His way. 

Q. If you feel that you are peculiarly in danger of 
doing wrong at some particular time, or in some partic- 
ular way, what should you do to guard against it ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 73 

A. Pray God to help me and strengthen me, and make 
me to do right. 

Q. What should you seek His assistance for, besides 
helping you to do right in your outward actions ? 

A. For controlling my language and conversation, so 
that I may speak nothing false, peevish, passionate, pro- 
fane, slanderous, impure, or mean, and " offend not with 
my tongue." 

Q. What else ? 

A. That He would aid me in keeping sin away from 
my secret thoughts and hidden feelings ; because sin is 
as bad for me in secret as in public, and is just as offen- 
sive to Him u who seeth in secret." 

Q. What is another important part of prayer ? 

A. Praying for others, which is called intercession. 

Q. How should you pray for others ? 

A. I should ask God to bless them by making them 
good and happy, and sending them faith, hope, and peace. 

Q. How can you pray for the interests of the truth ? 

A. By asking God to make every good cause prosper- 
ous, especially His holy Church, to spread knowledge, 
virtue, and piety over the whole earth, and to incline 
young men to seek the sacred office of the ministry. 

Q. What classes of people do you feel that you should 
especially remember in your times of devotion ? 

A, The poor, the sick, the injured, the sorrowful, and, 
above all, the vicious. 

Q. Ought you to pray for your enemies as well as 
your friends ? 

A. My Saviour tells me that I ought, St. Matt. v. 44, 
and He prayed, u Father, forgive them," for those who 
were putting Him to death on the cross. 

Q. Will God make us good unless we try also to 
make ourselves good ? 



74 LESSONS ON THE PARABEES. 

A. We have no promise that He will. 

Q. What is a proper subject for your prayer ? 

A. Any thing and every thing that I seriously think 
of. 

Q. What is yet another important part of devotion ? 

A. That we should thank our Father in heaven for 
all His kindness and mercy towards us His children 
every moment we live, for He gives us every good thing. 

Q. When Jesus gives us the form of prayer mentioned 
in verses 2-4 of this chapter, and also in Matt. vi. 9, 
&c, does He intend that we shall always repeat this 
prayer and only this ? 

A. He does not ; though He teaches us that we should 
pray after this manner, and often repeat this, for it is 
undoubtedly the most perfect of all prayers. 

Q. If we should take up each one of the expressions 
in it, should we not find that they either include or sug- 
gest every thing that we ought to pray for ? 

A. We should, and we ought always to think earnestly 
of the meaning of what we utter in this and in all other 
prayers. 

Q. When we hear others pray aloud what should we 
do? 

A. We should follow the language, and endeavor to 
make the prayer our own, by entering into it, and feeling 
it with all our hearts, and therefore say " Amen." 

Q. What are we particularly to remember, as the les- 
son of this parable ? 

A, That if we persevere faithfully in the habit of sin- 
cere prayer, God so loves us that He will hear us, and 
answer us. 

Q. How do you know this ? 

A. God has promised it, though He does not tell us 
how or when the answer will come. 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 75 

Q. But in whose name, or through whom must you 



pray ? 



A, Through Jesus Christ, except when I pray to Him, 
and with entire submission to His will, u e. willing He 
shall do for me whatever He sees best. 



LESSON XVII. 

PARABLE OF THE MAN WITH MANY GOODS. 

Q. Where is this parable recorded ? 

A. St. Luke xii. 16-21. 

Q. What caused Christ to put forth this parable ? 

A. Some one came and asked that the family estate 
might be divided between his brother and himself, — 
probably with a desire to get really more than his share 
(verse 13). 

Q. Why should he ask Jesus to make this division ? 

A. Because he perceived that Jesus had great author- 
ity, and that others would obey His word. 

Q. Did this man probably perceive what the authority 
of Christ arose from, — namely, His divine nature, and 
the divine works that He wrought for a spiritual pur- 
pose ? 

A. Probably not. 

Q. What is the meaning of Christ's reply in verse 14? 

A. That his office was not to judge and decide ques- 
tions about property ; but to do the far higher work of 
teaching spiritual truth, and saving men from sin. 

Q. What does He then tell those about Him to be- 
' ware of ? 

-4. Covetousness. 



I 



76 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What is " covetousness " ? 

A. An eager passion for accumulating money or prop- 
erty. 

Q. Does it seem from this, that Jesus perceived some- 
thing of this bad passion in the man who had just spoken 
to Him? 

A. It does. 

Q. What do you understand by the expression, " a 
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things 
which he possesseth " ? 

A. That our deepest life and true happiness do not 
depend on the amount of our property, or our luxuries. 

Q. What do they depend on ? 

A. On our faithfulness in doing our duty, and our 
faith in God. 

Q. What, then, is the direct object of this parable ? 

A. To enforce the truth just stated. 

Q. Is it implied that the rich man was guilty of any 
wrong in acquiring his wealth ? 

A. It is not ; his soil was fruitful (verse 16). 

Q. What do you infer from verses 17 and 18 ? 

A. That his crops were so plentiful that he had no 
place to store them in. 

Q. What does he resolve to do ? 

A. (See verse 18.) 

Q. How would the meaning of verse 19 be made 
more plain? 

A. By placing the word " self," instead of the word 
"soul." 

Q. What appears from this verse ? 

A. That the rich man was thoughtless, empty-minded, 
and worldly. 

Q. What does he propose to do that is unworthy of a 
man, and an immortal soul ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 77 

A. To give himself up to his low appetites, to eating, 
- and drinking, and idleness. 

Q. What might you infer from his language to him- 
self? 
i A. That he expected to live in this world forever. 

Q. "What terrible warning did he receive which star- 
tled him out of this sensual state ? 

A. God speaks to him, and tells him that on that very 
anight he should die (verse 20). 

Q. What is the force of the question at the end of 
-that verse ? 

A. To show that at the moment of his death his pos- 
sessions could be his no longer, but he must leave them 
all behind him. 

Q. What must be the rich man's feeling at this an- 
nouncement ? 

A. Disappointment, shame, and terror. 

Q. How does Jesus give us the lesson of this parable ? 

A. By saying that all those who selfishly strive to 
make themselves comfortable, neglecting others, and for- 
getting God, will be like this miserable man. 

Q. What is meant by being " rich toward God " ? 

A. Those are " rich toward God " who love Him and 
keep His commandments. 

Q. If we do this, need we be afraid when we are told 
that we must die ? 

A, We need not, because then we may be sure of 
being safe and happy with God after we die. 

Q. What is the difference, then, between the worldly- 
minded person and the true Christian, when both come 
to die? 

A. The first will be separated forever from what he 
loves most, because he loves earthly things most ; while 



78 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

the good man, who has found his chief pleasure in duty, 
faith, and love, will carry these with him, in his soul, inti 
the other world. 

Q. What is the only thing that makes dying really 
fearful ? 

A. Sin ; but if we are Christ's, we can look forward 
to death calmly and cheerfully. 

Q. Might not this rich man have kept himself from 
becoming so much bound up in his riches and luxury ? 

A. He might if he had chosen ; he might have been 
a good man, and lived virtuously and died peacefully 

Q. If we find ourselves becoming selfish, how can w 
resist that tendency ? 

A. By taking pains to make sacrifices for the sake 
of others, and by devoting ourselves to rendering them 
happy. (See v. 33.) 

Q. If we do this, what may we hope for ? 

A. God will look upon us with favor and bless 
for He loves those that love their fellow-creatures. 

Q. What other passage teaches us the same solemn 
lesson with this parable ? 

A. St. Matt. xvi. 26. 

Q. What is the main object of the beautiful words of 
Jesus that follow this parable, — through verse 31? 

A. He continues to compare anxiety for earthly things 
with the nobler anxiety to be pure and holy. 

Q. What does He say respecting anxiety for earthly 
things ? 

A. That we should do all our duty, and then leave 
the result entirely to our Heavenly Father. 

Q. But while we are comparatively indifferent to 
worldly possessions, what does He say we snould seek, 
earnestly and continually ? 



• 






LESSONS OX THE PARABLES. 79 

A. " The kingdom of God " ; that is, to obey the pre- 
cepts of the gospel, follow our Saviour in holiness of 
life, and help build up and extend His Church ; and then 
we may hope to enter, when we die. into the glory and 
joy of heaven. 

Q. Why does Jesus call this man a " fool " ? 

A. Because he was willing to lose an eternity of holy 
and blessed life for the sake of being rich. 

Q, The rich man says " my goods " ; is what we call 
our property really ours ? 

A. It is God's more than ours ; He only lends it to 
us ; and unless we use it, and give it, for Him and His 
Church, we have no right at all to it. 

Q. What is the least part of our money that we 
should give for Christ ? 

A. One tenth. (Lev. xxvii. 32 ; Gen. xxviii. 22.) 



LESSON XVIII. 

PARABLE OF THE PIASTER AND HIS SERVANTS. 

Q. What parable follows immediately after that of 
the man with many goods ? 

A. That of the master and his servants. 

Q. In what respect does this resemble the preceding ? 

A. In showing how we are to be truly prepared for 
change and death. 

Q. What is the extent of the whole passage, including 
this parable? 

A. St. Luke xii., from verse 35 to verse 48. 

Q. Whom is each one of us compared to in this par- 
able ? 






80 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. To a servant whose master is absent from home at 
a wedding. 

Q. How ought such a servant to conduct ? 

A. He ought to " watch " for his master's return, and 
be ready to receive him, and wait upon him the moment 
he arrives (verses 35-38). 

Q. What is meant by the phrase " having the loins 
girded " ? 

A. It is an allusion to a custom of the East, where 
servants who wait at table wear long robes drawn up, or 
girded up, about their persons. 

Q. If a servant were thus clothed, and had his lamps 
lighted or "burning" what would he be ready to do 
when his master should arrive ? 

A. To open the door and do his master's bidding. 

Q. What are the watches mentioned in verse 38 ? 

A. The night was divided, when this was said, into 
four watches, of three hours each, — the first commenc- 
ing at six o'clock in the evening, the second at nine 
o'clock in the evening, the third at midnight, and the 
fourth at three o'clock in the morning. 

Q. If the master arrived, then, in the " second w r atch," 
or the " third watch," at what time would he arrive ? 

A. If in the "second watch," between nine o'cloc' 
and midnight ; if in the third, between midnight and 
three o'clock. 

Q. What is the design of verse 39 ? 

A. To show the need of being always watchful and 
prepared, that we may be guarded against evil as against 
a thief. 

Q. What is probably signified by that " coming of the 
Son of Man," which Jesus tells His followers to be al- 
ways ready for ? 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 81 

A. His reappearance on the earth. 

Q. If He thought it important for His followers to be 
seriously ready for that trial, is it not at least equally 
important for each one of us to be prepared for the sol- 
emn hour of death ? 

A. This is certainly one application we are to make 
of His words. 

Q. How is it true that this and other great changes 
come at an hoar when we think ?iot? 

A. They are generally sudden, — not fully foreseen. 

Q. What does the Saviour describe in verses 42-44 ? 

A. The character of the good servant, who does watch 
and wait for his master's arrival. 

Q. What does He say is the reward of such a ser- 
vant? 

A. That he is promoted to the office of steward, and 
intrusted with the care of all the household. 

Q. How is the wicked and unfaithful servant said to 
conduct ? 

A. To indulge in all sorts of violence, wastefulness, 
and excess, because his master is out of sight (verse 45). 

Q. What is the fearful end of such a servant ? 

A. (See verse 46.) 

Q. Who of us are like this wicked servant, and must 
expect to share in his misery and shame ? 

A. Those who are careless about their duty, and who 
do not make earnest efforts to lead Christian lives. 

Q. What is the import of verses 47 and 48 ? 

A. That just in proportion as we know what is right, 

we are under solemn obligations to do what is right, and 

I that we are and always shall be judged according to 

the gifts, knowledge, helps, and opportunities that we 

have. 



82 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Does not this require us, who have so many re- 
ligious opportunities and privileges, to lead very holy 
lives ? 

A. It does, and we should never be satisfied with our- 
selves, as God can never be satisfied with us, unless we 
improve our many advantages. 

Q. What are some of these advantages that we enjoy ? 

A. We live where we are instructed in the Faith of 
Jesus Christ ; we have friends who show us how we 
ought to live; and we have before us many excellent 
examples that we may imitate. 

Q. What, now, is the great lesson you may derive 
from this parable ? 

A. That it is my duty to be prepared for every change 
of condition, and especially for the last change, death. 

Q. How are you to be prepared for it ? 

A. By actively and cheerfully serving Christ. 

Q. How will this prepare you for death ? 

A. It will make me sure of His approbation and His 
support ; and if I have this I am prepared for any thing. 

Q. Can death be really terrible to those that follow 
Christ? 

A. It cannot, for in Christ they have eternal life, and 
He will be their Friend after death. 

Q. Provided you love your fellow-men and your Sa- 
viour, how may you meet death ? 

A. Calmly and happily, for I know that then death 
cannot harm me. 



LESSOXS ON THE PARABLES. 83 

LESSON XIX. 

PARABLE OF THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 

Q Which of the four Evangelists gives an account 
of this parable, and where ? 

A. St. Luke, in chap, xiii., verses 6-9. 

Q. How do we learn what called it forth ? 

A. By looking at the preceding verses of the chapter. 

Q. "What did some persons remind Jesus of at this 
time ? 

A. Of Pilate's commanding some Galileans to be put 
to death by the sword, at the very moment when they 
were offering sacrifices in the Temple, so that their blood 
flowed down, and was " mingled with their sacrifices." 

Q. Who was Pilate ? 

A. He was a cruel and obstinate man, at that time 
governor of Judea, being sent from Rome by the Roman 
government to fill that office. (See St. Matt, xxvii. 2.) 

Q. Why should the governor of Judea be sent from 
Rome ? 

A. Because Judea was then a province governed by 
the Roman empire. 

Q. What did Jesus say to those who reminded Him 
of Pilate's killing those Galileans ? 

A. He said that many other Galileans really deserved 
such punishment as much as those who suffered it (verse 

2)- 

Q. What other case of the destruction of human life 
does Jesus mention? 

A, Of the falling of a tower, built probably over the 
pool of Siloam at Jerusalem (St. John ix. 7), which 
crushed eighteen persons. 



84 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What does He say, in verses 3 and 5, with refer- 
ence to those that perished in these ways ? 

A. That among those who heard Him speak were 
many, who, unless they repented of their sins, must per- 
ish as miserably. 

Q. Whom did He especially warn by these words ? 

A. The Jewish nation. 

Q. What made the Jewish nation at that time so de- 
serving of severe punishments ? 

A. They had grown corrupt, sinful in their lives, and 
hypocritical in their religion ; and because the Saviour 
preached righteousness to them, and reproved their sins, 
they soon after put Him to death on the cross. 

Q. Having thus uttered a solemn warning to this peo- 
ple, Jesus enforces it by a parable ; will you read or 
repeat that parable ? 

Q. Whom does the man that planted the fig-tree in 
the vineyard represent, in the parable ? 

A. God, who plants the nations on earth. 

Q. What particular nation is intended by this fig- 
tree ? 

A. The Jews. 

Q. What was the great sin of the Jews ? 

A. As the tree bore no fruit in figs, so they did not 
bear fruit in righteous actions. 

Q. Who may be meant by the " dresser," or gardener, 
of the vineyard ? 

A, His Son, our Saviour. 

Q. What does the owner of the vineyard say to the 
dresser ? 

A, (Verse 7.) 

Q. What do you understand by the expression " Why 
cumbereth it the ground ? " 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 85 

A, " Why should this tree, which bears no fruit, be 
allowed to stand here and cumber, or occupy uselessly, the 
ground, when a fruitful tree might be planted in its 
place." 

Q. Will you put the meaning of this into other lan- 
guage, as it would be applied to the Jewish nation ? 

A. u Why should this nation, which, after all the relig- 
ious privileges they have enjoyed, continue selfish and 
proud, be allowed to stand in their power, setting a bad 
example before others, and thus cumbering the earth." 

Q. What is the M dresser " represented as urging, in 
behalf of this people, in verses 8 and 9 ? 

A. As pleading that they may be spared from destruc- 
tion yet a little longer, that some new efforts may be 
made to awaken them to their duty, and make them re- 
pent and be saved. 

Q. What did the Saviour do in His " this year also " ? 

A. He suffered on the cross, — His mightiest act of 
mercy. 

Q. What do we learn from history respecting the ful- 
fillment of these warnings to the Jews ? 

A. A few years after they were indeed " cut down " ; 
the Roman armies came and completely destroyed their 
chief city, Jerusalem, and butchered men, women, and 
children ; so that they actually perished very much like 
those whom Pilate killed, and those on whom the tower 
of Siloam fell. 

Q. Has not this parable an application to us also ? 
' A. It has ; for God's law is over us, as well as over 
the Jews. 

Q. What does it teach you ? 

A. That unless I improve my opportunities, and grow 
in goodness, I must look for a terrible judgment from 
my God. 



86 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What is your great opportunity ? 

A. That of continually learning more of my Saviour, 
and gaining more of His Spirit. 

Q. What is your great privilege ? 

A. That of having religious instruction, knowing the 
teachings and life of Christ, and receiving the ordinances 
of the Church. 

Q. If, then, you do not grow better, but cling to your 
sinful ways and low passions, what are you ? 

A. But a cumberer of the ground, unworthy to fill 
my place here, which God intended for His good children. 

Q. What, then, ought to be your resolution to-day ? 

A. That I will sincerely repent of all the evil I have 
done, and be changed into a truly obedient and loving 
child of God. 

Q. If you do this what has your Heavenly Father 
promised ? 

A. That I shall have peace in my soul, and that He 
will bless me in this life and the life to come. 

Q. The vine-dresser interceded or pleaded for the 
barren tree ; what are we told of Christ's intercession for 



us r 



? 



A. (Heb. vii. 25 ; 1 John ii. 1, 2.) 



per? 



LESSON XX. 

* 

THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPER. 

Q. Where do you find the parable of the great sup- 

:? 

A. In St. Luke xiv. 16 to 25. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 87 

Q. Will you read carefully this chapter xiv., from 
verse 1 up to verse 1 6, where the parable begins ? 

Q. On what occasion was the parable spoken ? 

A. It appears from verse 1 that Jesus was "eating 
bread," that is he was dining, at the house of a distin- 
guished Jew. 

Q. Did the Jews make more than common prepara- 
tions for dinner on the Sabbath ? 

A. They did, for they thought that they honored the 
day, and showed their respect for their religion by spread- 
ing a sumptuous feast. 

Q. Was their Sabbath like our Sabbath ? 

A. Not in many respects ; for while it was a day of 
feasting with them, with us it is a day of worship and 
spiritual improvement. 

Q. Should we think it right to take up our time, or 
the time of our family domestics, with providing a more 
expensive and luxurious dinner on Sunday than on other 
days ? 

A. We should not ; for then both we and they would 
have less time to attend worship, and read good books, 
and visit the sick and poor. 

Q. Would not the luxurious dinner be apt to tempt 
us to excessive eating ? 

A. It would, and in that way make us stupid and dull, 
and less inclined to give our minds freely to religious in- 
struction. 

Q. What was the direction that Jesus proceeded to 
give to those about him ? 

A. (Read verses 8-10 ; also St. Matt, xxiii. 6.) 

Q. What is the general application of this passage that 
we ought to make? 

A. We should learn to be humble; not to put our- 



88 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 






selves forward immodestly in any thing ; to give others 
the best place, and more respect and more credit than 
we give ourselves. 

Q. What does Christ mean when He says that humble 
persons shall "have worship" (verse 10) ? 

A. He means that others will honor and love them, 
because they are humble. 

Q. Will you read verses 12-14? 

Q. Does Jesus mean to say, in verse 12, that we really 
ought not to invite our friends, and relatives, and rich 
neighbors to our houses at all ? 

A. Not by any means. He teaches that it will be a 
mean motive if we invite them for the sake of being 
invited by them in return. 

Q. What else do we learn from these three verses ? 

A. That it is much more noble, and much more ac- 
ceptable to God, for us to feed the poor, and to be kind to 
the unfortunate, the lowly, and the sick, than to make a 
display of entertainments and parties of pleasure for the 
rich and comfortable, to gratify our pride. 

Q. To whom were these three verses peculiarly ad- 
dressed by Jesus ? 

A. To those who make entertainments, as the previous 
verses had been addressed to those who attend them. 

Q. What did the man probably mean by " eats bread 
in the kingdom of God " ? 

A. He was probably thinking only of his superiority 
as a Jew, not as a Christian. 

Q. How does it appear that sharing in the peace and 
wisdom of Christian faith may be compared to " eating 
bread " ? 

A. That faith, and the truth of Christ, nourish the 
soul's life, as bread nourishes the body. (See St. John vi. 
32-35.) 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 89 

Q. What reply does Jesus make to this person's re- 
mark ? 

A. He replies by this parable of the Great Supper. 
(The pupil may repeat or read it.) 

Q. How do you explain it, that in all these several 
passages Jesus makes constant allusions to feasts or sup- 
pers ? 

A. It was His custom to take His subject from some 
passing event, or present object ; and at this moment He 
was at a feast, w T hich suggested to Him His language. 

Q. In verse 16, are we to suppose that those persons 
whom the man sent his servant to call in to his supper 
had been previously invited ? 

A. We are ; and that they had accepted the invita- 
tion, or promised to come. 

Q. How are we to regard their conduct, then, in 
offering the excuses which are written in verses 18-20 
for staying away ? 

A. They broke their promises, and were guilty of 
great incivility to the individual who had kindly invited 
them. 

Q. How did that individual feel under such treat- 
ment? 

A. He felt a natural indignation. 

Q. Does the word "anger" or "angry" (verse 21), 
as used in the Bible, always refer to that anger which is 
wicked ? 

A. It does not ; it sometimes signifies an indignation 
at injustice, or meanness, or sin, which is not wrong. 
(See Eph. iv. 26, and all those passages in the Old 
Testament where God is said to be angry ; as Psalm vii. 
11, and Numbers xxv. 3.) 

Q. What is that wicked anger which degrades us and 
displeases God? 



90 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. It is the passion that makes us wish to do some 
harm to others, and takes away our self-control. 

Q. Will you refer to some passages in the Bible 
which show us that such anger is very wrong ? 

A. Prov. xiv. 17, xvi. 32 ; Eccles. vii. 9 ; St. Matt. v. 
22 ; Eph. iv. 31. 

Q. What other reasons have we for knowing that 
angry passions are wrong ? 

A. Our conscience tells us so, and we feel ashamed 
and uncomfortable after we have indulged them. 

Q. What did the master of the house tell his servant 
to do, after his invitations had been so slighted ? 

A, To go out and call in to his supper " the poor," 
" the maimed " or crippled, " the halt " or lame, and 
" the blind." 

Q. In order that all the room might be filled, he sent 
out a second time ; what did he mean by telling the 
servant to " compel them to come in * ? 

A. He wished to have them urgently entreated — 
even those poor beggars that sit by the highways and 
hedges — to come. 

Q. Was it customary for some of the Jews to provide 
entertainments for poor people ? 

A. It was. 

Q. Turn now to the spiritual lesson of the parable ; 
and whom may we consider to be intended by the 
" master of the house " who gave the supper ? 

A. Our Father in heaven. 

Q. What is the " supper " He provides ? 

A. The spiritual feast of the gospel in the Church. 

Q. Who is the " servant," or messenger, that comes to 
call men to this supper ? 

A. Jesus Christ, calling by His ministers. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 91 

Q. Who are meant by those persons that were first 
" bidden," or invited ? 

A. The Jews ; because Christ appeared and lived 
among them in Judea ; and thus His gospel or teaching, 
which is. " the supper," was first offered to them. 

Q. How did they refuse to accept the offer? 

A. By not believing what Christ said, but persecuting 
and scorning Him, and at last putting Him to death. 

Q. Who are signified by those " poor," " maimed," 
"halt," and "blind"? 

A, The people, not Jews, but belonging to other na- 
tions, called Gentiles. 

Q. Why were these represented as being such poor 
outcasts ? 

A. Because up to the time when Christ lived they 
had not enjoyed so many advantages of instruction and 
help as the Jews had for knowing the truth. 

Q. When the Apostles went abroad soon after, how- 
ever, and preached the gospel to them, did they gladly 
receive it? 

A. They did ; so that the parable proved true, and 
these poor Gentiles enjoyed the " supper " of the holy 
instructions of Christ, while the Jews shut themselves 
out by their unbelieving and selfish dispositions. 

Q. What should we learn by this ? 

A. That the poor, ignorant, and weak, if they try, 
may be good and happy, and go to heaven, as well as 
the rich, and the fashionable, and the well-dressed 
children. (1 Cor. i. 26-29.) 

Q. What may you learn from what is said of excuses 
in this parable ? 

A. That I cannot have any good excuse for not doing 
right ; and that if I love my earthly pleasure or posses- 



92 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

sions more than my duty and my Saviour, I am in 
danger of losing my own soul. 



LESSON XXL 

PARABLES OF THE TOWER, AND OF THE KING GOING 
TO WAR. 

Q. Where do you find these parables concerning the 
tower, and the king going to war ? 

A. They follow directly after the parable of the last 
lesson, in the 14th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. 

Q. What are we told in verse 25 ? 

A. That multitudes of people went with Him. 

Q. Why did they follow Him ? 

A. They were drawn around Him by the striking 
truths He uttered, by the simplicity and beauty of His 
life, and by His miraculous works. 

Q. What may we naturally suppose respecting the 
voice and appearance of Jesus ? 

A. That a person so full of goodness and love must 
have been wonderfully attractive, and that He spoke 
with tones of earnestness and sincerity. 

Q. What seems to have been Christ's object in what 
He immediately said to these multitudes that were fol- 
lowing Him (verse 26) ? 

A. To show them that if they really intended to be- 
come His followers, they must not expect to find it an 
easy thing, but a work of great difficulty and self-denial. 

Q. What do you understand by being a follower of 
Jesus Christ? 

A. Believing on Him, acting from that spirit of good- 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 93 

ness and love that He always displayed, and trying to 
live like Him. 

Q. Ought we to consider this an easy task ? 

A. It cannot be easy ; it must cost us exertion. 

Q. But shall we be afraid of that exertion ? 

A. Never, for He will be our friend, and will give us 
a noble reward. 

Q. What will that reward be ? 

A. An approving conscience, a peaceful heart, and 
eternal joy in heaven. 

Q. Does Jesus mean, in verse 26, that we must abso- 
lutely hate our father and mother and other relatives, in 
order to be His followers ? 

A. He cannot mean this ; for He teaches us, in all 
parts of His instructions, to love all mankind, to love our 
kindred and acquaintances, — not to hate them. 

Q. How does it happen that this word " hate is used 
here ? 

A. Jesus spoke in the Greek language, and the words 
that He used did not convey to those who heard Him 
any such meaning as u hate " ; but the men who trans- 
lated the 2sew Testament from the Greek into our Eng- 
lish language placed this word here. 

Q. How might they have expressed Christ's meaning 
more accurately ? 

A. By writing thus : " If any man come to me, he 
cannot be truly my disciple, unless he loves me more 
than he loves his father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
or brethren, or sisters, or his own life." 

Q. Is not this shown to be exactly what Christ did 
say, in St. Matthew's Gospel ? 
A. It is. (See St. Matt. x. 37.) 

Q. What then do you understand by this saying of 
Christ ? 



94 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. That I must love all my earthly friends less than 
I love my Friend and Saviour, Christ ; and that I must 
obey my conscience and my Maker, even if I should be 
obliged, in doing so, to displease some companion or rel- 
ative. 

Q. What does Jesus go on to say in verse 27, and 
what does He mean by telling us we must " bear the 
cross " ? 

A. Those who believed on Christ and followed Him 
were persecuted by the Jews, who did not wish to believe 
Him, on account of their prejudices and sins ; and as 
these unbelievers were the strongest party, they some- 
times cruelly put the followers of Christ to death, by 
stretching them on two pieces of wood nailed together 
in the form of a cross. This was a common form of 
capital punishment. 

Q. Where is the account of Christ's own death on 
such a cross, that is, His crucifixion ? 

A. In St. Luke, chapter xxiii. ; St. Mark, chapter xv. ; 
St. Matthew, chapter xxvii. ; St. John, chapter xix. 

Q. Why does Jesus speak of these awful dangers be- 
forehand ? 

A. He is always open and candid ; He wishes these 
people to understand that they will have to meet such 
trials ; and He warns them that unless they are ready to 
endure them they cannot be His disciples. 

Q. Suppose that a person should forsake the path of 
duty, and do wrong, through his fear of others, what 
kind of a character would he have ? 

A. A mean and cowardly character. 

Q. Will you state now the meaning of the parable of 
" building the tower," verses 28-30 ? 

A. Jesus shows us that before making up our minds 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 95 

to be Christians we must " count the cost " ; that is, look 
at the difficulties and trials it will cost us ; just as a man 
counts the cost of a tower before he begins to build it. 

Q. What kind of a " tower " is referred to here ? 
A. In that country? the tops of the houses were flat, 
so that persons could walk about on them ; a tower was 
built up on the roof, and contained some small rooms 
for places of retirement and prayer. Sometimes towers 
were built in the fields for the use of farmers, and some- 
times on city walls for observations in war. Probably 
this was a tower in the field. 

Q. What other illustration does Jesus give of the im- 
portance of counting the cost of an undertaking before- 
hand ? 

A. (See verses 32 and 33.) 

Q. How does Jesus sum up the lesson of this passage 
in verse 33 ? 

A. That if we are not ready to forsake every thing 
else for His sake, we are not fit to be His disciples. 

Q. What was the chief reason that He and His 
first followers were obliged to suffer so much for their 
faith ? 

A. It was because His gospel was so much opposed 
to the wickedness and errors of mankind. They perse- 
cuted Him because He reproved their sins. 

Q. What is the great trial that we are called to un- 
dergo in being Christians ? 

A. We are obliged to deny ourselves all sinful pleas- 
ures, and sometimes to be ridiculed and despised. 

Q. From what quarter do most of our temptations 
come ? 

A. From our own self-love and sensual passions. 

Q. What then should we pray that we may become ? 



96 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. More and more spiritually-minded. 

Q. Will you mention, in your own words, some of the 
ways in which you think you are most likely to do 
wrong ? 

Q. How should you act if other persons blame you, 
or ridicule you, for doing what is right ? 

A. I should be above it, and persevere in my duty. 

Q. What glorious promise does Jesus make to those 
who take this Christian course ? 

A. (See St. Matt. xix. 29.) 



LESSON XXII. 

PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP, AND OF THE LOST 
PIECE OF SILVER. 

Q. What drew from Christ the parables recorded in 
the fifteenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel ? 

A. The fact (v. 1) that, as Jesus was teaching, the 
" publicans and sinners " came near to hear His instruc- 
tions. 

Q. Who were the " publicans " mentioned here ? 

A. They were men who had it for their business to 
collect taxes from the Jewish people, to be paid over to 
the government. 

Q. What made their character and office especially 
odious and unpopular ? 

A. The fact that these taxes which they collected, and 
which the people were obliged to pay, were levied by 
the Emperor of Rome, a foreign ruler, and went to the 
Roman empire. Besides, for a Jew thus to serve the for- 
eign government, was considered disloyal. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 97 

Q. How did it happen that the Jews were obliged to 
pay taxes to the Roman government ? 

A. The armies of that government had at this time 
conquered Judea, and held it in subjection. 

Q. What further made the publican contemptible ? 

A. He sometimes went beyond the authority given 
him, and exacted from the people larger sums than were 
due. 

Q. How do we find publicans spoken of frequently in 
the New Testament ? 

A. In connection with sinners, as if they were de- 
spised. St. Luke v. 30. 

Q. Did Jesus despise them ? 

A. He never despised any human soul ; although He 
rebuked all their sins, He pitied their condition, and 
longed to save them. 

Q. Who were the " Pharisees and Scribes " mentioned 
in verse 2 ? 

A. They were classes of men very strict in perform- 
ing such outward actions as their law enjoined upon 
them, and who spent much time in studying that law and 
disputing about it. 

Q. What was their character generally ? 

A. They were cold-hearted and selfish, more careful to 
perform particular ceremonies than to cherish in their 
hearts those good affections, or to do those benevolent 
deeds, which Christ loved. 

Q. Where do you find how Christ regarded them, and 
their outside formality, separated from holiness and love ? 

A. In St. Matt. v. 20, in a large part of chap, xxiii., 
and St. Luke xx. 46. 

Q. What does he plainly imply respecting them in 
many places ? 



98 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. That though they pretended to despise publicans 
and sinners, and refused to go near them, yet they them- 
selves had as many faults ; such as pride, self-righteous- 
ness, insincerity, love of the world, and uncharitableness. 

Q. What may we learn from this ? 

A. Not to be forward to accuse others of doing wrong 
while our own characters are open to rebuke. 

Q. Suppose we have not those sins which some others 
have, what becomes us still ? 

A. To consider whether we are not guilty of some 
other sins which, though different, are just as bad. 

Q. To show His reason for being in the company of 
sinners, Jesus proceeds to deliver a parable in verses 
3-6 ; will you repeat this parable of the lost sheep ? 

Q. What is the amount of this parable ? 

A. That if a man have a flock of a hundred sheep, 
and lose one of them, he will leave the remaining ninety- 
nine to take care of themselves, while he searches for the 
lost one ; and if he finds it, he feels a more lively pleas- 
ure in it than in the fact that the other ninety-nine have 
stayed in their places, and have not been lost. 

Q. What, now, is the application Christ would make 
of this parable? 

A, He would compare the sinner — the bad man — 
to that lost sheep, and Himself to the shepherd who goes 
out to seek for him, to bring him back to goodness and 
eternal life. 

Q. Will you explain how it should ever happen that 
one of a flock of sheep should be lost in that country ? 

A. Many of the men of Judea kept sheep as their oc- 
cupation, and as they did not confine them to any one 
pasture, but drove them from place to place in various 
directions, as the seasons changed, it was not strange 



LESSOXS ON THE PARABLES. 99 

that, in some wild place or " wilderness," a single sheep 
should wander away from the rest. 

Q. Using this comparison of the parable, if the sinful 
man, or the sinful child, is the " lost sheep," who is the 
good shepherd that seeks for him to bring him back to 
the fold ? 

A. Jesus, the Saviour, who came into the world to 
bring wandering sinners home to Himself, and home to 
heaven. 

Q. In what other passages is Christ represented as the 
" Good Shepherd " of the sheep ? 

A. Id several verses of St. John x., in Heb. xiii. 20, 
and 1 Pet. ii. 25, and v. 4. 

Q. If, then, Christ is the Shepherd, what is His fold ? 

A. As the sheepfold is the place where the sheep gather 
to rest at night, so the fold of those who follow Christ is 
in the society of His disciples, — the Church. 

Q. How does this Divine Shepherd save the "lost 
sheep n ? 

A, Is. liii. 6 ; St. John x. 11. 

Q. How are the " Pharisees " contrasted with the 
Good Shepherd ? 

A. (See Ezekiel xxxiv. 8-11.) 

Q. How does Jesus illustrate the truth conveyed by 
this parable in another form ? 

A. By a very similar parable in verses 8 and 9, in 
which he asks if a woman would not feel a keener joy in 
finding one piece of silver that she had lost, than in keep- 
ing nine safely in her possession. 

Q, The Saviour concludes both of these parables in 
nearly the same words (see verses 7 and 10) ; what is 
the meaning of verse 10 ? 

A. That those happy and pure spirits which are ever 



100 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

with God, feel a holy joy whenever any one of us repents 
and returns to Him. 

Q. What do you understand by verse 7 ? 

A. That there is a more vivid and intense satisfaction 
felt at such an unexpected change in a bad person's char- 
acter, than in the regular course of those who have not 
been in the sinner's danger and misery. 

Q. What other explanation can be offered ? 

A. That Christ meant that there is more joy in heaven 
over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and 
nine persons like the scribes and Pharisees, who think 
themselves just, who think they have no need of repent- 
ance, and therefore do not repent. 

Q. Why, then, did the Saviour go among publicans 
and sinners ? 

A. (Ezekiel xxxiv. 12-16.) 

Q. If, then, God our Saviour so loves mankind and 
wants to deliver them from the misery of sinful habits 
and bad passions, how ought we to regard all vicious per- 
sons, inebriates, and criminals ? 

A. With great compassion, because they are under this 
awful darkness of sin, and need our pity. 

Q. If sinful persons seem happy, do they need our 
compassion the less ? 

A. Not at all, for sooner or later their sin will make 
them wretched. 

Q. While we pity and love the person that commits 
sin, as Jesus did, on account of his immortal soul and the 
injury he inflicts upon it, how should we regard sin it- 
self? 

A, We should despise it, and resist it, and shun it, 
whether in our own breasts or elsewhere. 

Q. When we see how Jesus answered the proud " scribes 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 101 

and Pharisees," who thought it beneath them to notice 
" publicans and sinners," — showing that even He, who 
was so much higher and purer than they, did not think it 
beneath Him, — what should we learn from it ? 

A. Not to think of ourselves more highly than we 
think of others, but to remember that we also are sin- 
ners. 

Q. What should occur to us when we see vicious and 
criminal persons ? 

A. That, if it were not for our friends and the circum- 
stances of our education, we too might have been as bad 
as they. 

Q. What feeling should this awaken ? 

A. Gratitude for the mercy that we have been kept 
from being worse than we are. 

Q. And what resolution should it inspire us with ? 

A. To strive, that, as our condition is more favorable 
than that of many others, we are called upon in the sight 
of God to have better characters than they, and to grow 
rapidly and steadily into Christ. 



LESSON XXIII. 

PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SOX. 

Q. What seems to have been the occasion of Christ's 
delivering the parable of the prodigal son ? 

A, He delivered it immediately after those two that 
we examined in ihe preceding lesson; and it seems to 
have been called out by the same cause, namely, the 
complaint of the Pharisees that he mingled with publi- 
cans and sinners. St. Luke xv. 11. 



102 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What does Jesus show us by this parable ? 

A. That whenever the sinful forsake their wicked 
ways, and come in penitent prayer to their Heavenly 
Father, asking forgiveness, He will forgive them, and re- 
store them. 

Q. If we study the parable closely, what else shall we 
find? 

A. That the story describes, figuratively, the whole 
course of a young man, through temptation, sin, repent- 
ance, and conversion. 

Q. Jesus begins with imagining a father as having two 
sons ; what does the younger of these sons ask ? 

A. He asks his father to give him his part of the prop- 
erty, whatever it may be, at once, instead of waiting for 
his father to give it to him when he should see fit ; and 
this was his first misstep. 

Q. Why was this wrong ? 

A. It showed an unbecoming haste in the young man 
to get possession of the property, and also a bad desire 
to escape from the control of his father, for the sake of 
following his own will. 

Q. Did the father comply with this request of his son ? 

A. He did, for he probably saw that his heart was es- 
tranged and would not be satisfied till he had tried his 
own way. 

Q. What foolish course did the young man take 
next? 

A. He collected all his money, travelled into a far off 
place, and there wasted it all in idleness and dissipation 
(verse 13). 

Q, What better way can you point out, that he might 
have followed ? 

A. He might have devoted himself industriously, tem- 
perately, and happily to some useful business. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 103 

Q. We are then told (v. 14) that, after all his money 
was spent, his distress was made more severe by a great 
famine that arose in the land where he was ; what is a 
famine ? 

A. A scarcity of food, arising generally from an un- 
fruitful season, and making provisions very costly ; this 
would increase the young man's distress, as he would find 
it more difficult to subsist on charity. 

Q. In this wretched condition, which he had so fool- 
ishly brought upon himself, what did he do ? 

A. He first, instead of going straight home, turned to 
other helps. He found employment as a hired laborer 
for a citizen of that country, and his work was to take 
care of swine and feed them. 

Q. What proof is given us that he was exceedingly 
poor? 

A. He would have been glad to fill himself even with 
the husks eaten by the swine. 

Q. "What were these u husks " ? 

A. They were pods which grew on the carob tree, — 
a coarse article of food. 

Q. Does not every young man who becomes dissipated 
and sensual plunge himself into as great misery as this, 
whether he wanders to a distance from home or not ? 

A. He does, because his worst destitution and suffer- 
ing is always in his conscience and his heart. If we will 
not freely be God's servants, we must be the world's 
slaves. 

Q. In verse 17, it is said that this prodigal young man, 
when he came to himself, contrasted his miserable condi- 
tion with that of even the servants in the distant home 
of his father ; what is the peculiar force of this phrase 
" he came to himself " ? 



104 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. During his vicious and thoughtless course thus far, 
he had been like one beside himself, morally deranged ; 
and when he began to reflect seriously, and to remember 
that beautiful home that he had forsaken, and to long to 
return, it was coming to himself ; it was coming to his 
right senses again. 

Q, What right resolution did the young man take 
then? 

A. (Yerse 18.) 

Q. What is especially impressive in this good resolu- 
tion ? 

A. That he was determined to confess his faults ; not 
to pretend proudly that he had done right, but to say, as 
he felt, " Father, I have sinned against Heaven and be- 
fore thee." 

Q. What other beautiful trait does he show ? 

A. He does not claim his father's compassion, for he 
feels that he does not deserve it ; but he very humbly 
trusts to the forgiving love of his father to give him the 
lowly place of a servant. 

Q. Did he put his good resolution into practice ? 

A. He did (v. 20) ; and this is the only way in 
which our purposes can have any value ; if we do not 
act upon them, they are good for nothing. 

Q. How did his father feel toward him and receive 
him ? 

A. With all a father's tender affection and joy to see 
him return once more. 

Q. When the young man uttered his sorrowful con- 
fession (v. 21), what did the father reply ? 

A. He gave such a reply as showed his gladness, and 
how ready he was to forgive all his son's bad conduct ; 
and he gave directions to have those things done which 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 105 

were customary in that country, and were the tokens of 
the utmost rejoicing. 

Q. In reading the remainder of the chapter, you per- 
ceive that the elder son. who had remained all this time at 
home with his father, felt angry when he found so much 
pleasure was excited by his wicked brother's return ; 
what seems to have been precisely his feeling ? 

A. Jealousy that his father gave so much attention to 
his voun^er brother. 

Q. What ought he to have remembered ? 

A. That all this time this younger brother had been 
suffering the dreadful consequences of his dissolute and 
vicious life, while he, the elder, had been enjoying the 
comforts of a regular and obedient life with his father. 

Q. What, then, should he have felt ? 

A. He should have pitied that brother, and have been 
willing that one who had endured so much for his wick- 
edness should now be encouraged and welcomed back 
with joy. 

Q. Having thus seen how much instruction this para- 
ble of the prodigal son gives to all young persons, simply 
by its plain and literal meaning, what does it teach as an 
allegory, — as a parable ? 

A. It teaches us not only our duties to our earthly 
parents, but also respecting our relations to God. 

Q. Whom does the father of the two sons signify in 
the parable ? 

A. Our Father in Heaven, the Father of all man- 
kind. 

Q. Who are represented by the two sons ? 

A. All the children of his human family. — the obe- 
dient by the elder son, the disobedient by the younger. 

Q. When do all of us wander away from our Heav- 



106 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

enly Father's home, like the prodigal who left his father's 
house ? 

A. Whenever we set up our own will above the Law 
of God. 

Q. When may we be said to be in the far-off coun- 
try? 

A. When we are living for selfish pleasure, without 
Christian principle, and without prayer. 

Q. What is the famine of the spirit ? 

A. (Amos viii. 11.) 

Q. When may we be said, like the prodigal, to come 
to ourselves ? 

A. When we begin to feel earnestly that we are doing 
wrong, and long to do better. 

Q. What is this feeling ? 

A. Repentance. 

Q. If it is sincere and true repentance, what will it 
lead us to do ? 

A. To go to God in prayer, as the prodigal goes in 
the parable to his father, and humbly entreat Him to for- 
give us, and look upon us once more with favor, and help 
us to return. 

Q. Can we return without that help ? 

A. (St. John vi. 44.) 

Q. By showing us how the young man's father re- 
ceived his son, what does Jesus teach us respecting our 
reception by God ? 

A. He shows us that God will always be ready to 
answer our prayers and pardon us. 

Q. What other sure pledge have we of this truth ? 

A. Jesus Christ Himself gave up His own life and died 
on the cross to obtain forgiveness for us. 

Q. On this account, in whose name should we offer 
our prayers when we pray for pardon ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 107 

A. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. St. John 
rri. 23. 

Q. How should we feel towards our fellow-creatures 
who have been very sinful, but are struggling to re- 
form ? 

A. We should not be jealous of them, as the elder son 
in the parable was of the younger, but we should rejoice 
in their conversion. 

Q. What more should we be ready to do ? 

A. To assist them in their good exertions, to encour- 
age them, and to try to make duty delightful to them. 



LESSON XXIV. 

PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARD. 

Q. Where do you find the Saviour's parable of the 
unjust steward ? 

A. In the first eight verses of the sixteenth chapter 
of St. Luke's Gospel ; the five verses following also con- 
tain words of the Saviour that relate to the parable and 
explain it. 

Q. To whom did Jesus address this parable ? 

- 
tion. (Verse 1.) 

Q. To whom had He been addressing the three pre- 
ceding parables that we have studied, written in the 
preceding chapter ? 

A. To the scribes and Pharisees. (Verses 2, 3.) 

Q. What is a " steward " ? 

A. He is an officer, belonging to the household of a 



A. To His own disciples and friends, for their instruc- 



108 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

rich man, who acts as an agent in managing the affairs 
of his employer, and in keeping his accounts. 

Q. What was the accusation brought against this 
steward ? 

A. Some one informed his employer that the steward 
had been neglectful, or dishonest, or both, and had thus 
wasted his master's goods, instead of saving them care- 
fully, as it was his duty to do. 

Q. What course did the rich man pursue ? 

A. He called the steward to him, told him to make 
a statement of all his transactions, and informed him 
that he must leave his place on account of his mis- 
conduct. 

Q. As the steward then deliberates what he shall do 
for a living, why does he say that he " cannot dig " ? 

A. Either he was not strong enough in health for such 
hard labor as digging the earth, or else he did not under- 
stand that kind of work. 

Q. It seems that he could think of no occupation that 
would afford him a livelihood ; but why could he not 
"beg"? 

A. He felt that shame at becoming a beggar, which is 
natural to us all. 

Q. Why do we feel this shame ? 

A. Because we know that it is more honorable for us 
to earn our own support, than it is to ask others to main- 
tain us out of what belongs to themselves. 

Q. What was the amount of the resolution he formed, 
spoken of in verse 4 ? 

A. He resolved to do something to lay those who 
owed debts to his employer under an obligation to 
himself. 

Q. What was his object in this ? 






LESSOXS OX THE PARABLES. 109 

A. To make them feel thankful to him, and thus will- 
in or to furnish him a home in their houses. 

Q. Will you explain how he proceeded to do this in 
the first case ? 

A. He sent for one of those who owed his employer, 
and told him to take the writing, or note, wherein he 
had engaged to pay a hundred measures of oil, erase the 
words, and put down instead only fifty measures of oil. 
(Verses 5 and 6.) 

Q. How did this help the debtor ? 

A. It reduced his debt one half; so that when the 
time came for paying the rich man, that debtor was 
bound by the new writing to pay only half as much as 
he would have been obliged to pay if the old writing had 
been kept. For this favor he must thank the steward. 

Q, What kind of oil was this that was mentioned 
here ? 

A. A sweet oil that was obtained from the fruit of the 
olive-tree in Palestine. 

Q. What was it used for? 

A. It was valuable for burning in lamps (see Exodus 
xxvii. 20) ; for food, to be eaten like butter (see 1 Kings 
xvii. 12) ; and for anointing the body (see St. Luke vii. 
'46). 

Q. How much did one " measure " (or bath) of this 
oil contain ? 

A. As many as nine gallons. 

Q. What did the steward do to make himself accept- 
able to another person ? 

A. He told him to alter his " bill," or contract, in a 
I similar way, so that instead of having to pay a hundred 
' measures of wheat he should only have to pay fourscore 
measures, that is, eighty. 



110 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. And how much did a measure of wheat contain ? 

A. About eleven bushels. 

Q, Does it appear that the steward defrauded his 
employer of these sums by reducing the amount of the 
debts in this way ? 

A. Not of course. He may have intended to make up 
the deficiency himself, and to pay over to his employer, 
out of his own income, as much as these debtors were 
excused from paying. 

Q. How is it probable these debts were incurred ? 

A. They were, we may presume, a portion of the 
produce of land hired by these men as tenants of " the 
rich man," and were due to him as rent. 

Q. Why is the rich man called "lord" in the 5th 
and 8 th verses ? 

A. The word " lord " means here " master," or " owner 
of the land," and " head of the household." 

Q. In what light did the rich man regard the charac- 
ter of this steward ? 

A. He regarded him as unjust. (See verses 2 and 8.) 

Q. Why did he regard him so ? 

A. Because he had wasted goods that did not belong 
to him, and so abused his office, and been unfaithful to 
his trust ; possibly, also, for fraud. 

Q. Why did the rich man " commend " his steward 
then, as it is said he did, in verse 8 ? 

A. He commended him, not for his injustice or prodi- 
gality ; on that part of his conduct he looked with dis- 
approbation ; but he praised him for his prudence, his 
foresight, in taking so sure a method of making friends 
and securing a future support from those friends. 

Q. How would that support be likely to be given to 
the steward ? 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. Ill 

A. These persons that had been favored by the stew- 
ard would provide for him after he was turned out of his 
stewardship. 

Q. In this respect, how are we to regard his con- 
duct? 

A. As merely a shrewd piece of worldly calculation. 

Q. Where does the parable properly end ? 

A. At the word " wisely," in verse 8. 

Q. Christ, having concluded the parable, adds these 
words : " For the children of this world are in their gen- 
eration wiser than the children of light." Whom does 
He mean by " the children of this world " ? 

A. He means those persons who are worldly-minded, 
— who care for worldly convenience and prosperity, eat- 
ing and drinking, riches and pleasure, dress and admira- 
tion, more than for goodness, and God. 

Q. Whom does He mean by " the children of light " ? 

A. He means the good, who act from Christian princi- 
ple ; and who. on this account, have their minds and 
hearts full of peace, clearness, and " light." (See Eph. 
v. 8 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6.) 

Q. What does He mean, then, by saying that the chil- 
dren of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the 
children of light ? 

A. He means that they are wiser in ivorldly things ; 
that is, that they often take more pains, and show more 
careful forethought in gaining earthly good, than Chris- 
tians do in gaining spiritual and immortal good, wisdom 
and holiness. 

Q. Will you repeat what Christ says, in further ex- 
planation of this parable, in verse 9 ? 

Q. What do you understand by " the mammon of un- 
righteousness " ? 



112 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. Earthly riches ; the perishable things that we pos- 
sess in this world. (Pro v. xxiii. 5 ; 1 Tim. vi. 17. 

Q. How are we to make these our " friends " ? 

A. Not by becoming too much attached to them, but 
by so using them that they may strengthen our souls, 
serve the Church, and increase our disposition to do good. 
(St. Luke xii. 33.) 

Q. In what ways can we thus use them ? 

A. By avoiding all excess in eating, drinking, dress, 
and amusement ; and by giving a portion of our money 
to the poor, to feed the hungry, and clothe the destitute, 
and instruct the ignorant, and send the gospel where it 
is not known. (St. Mat. xxv. 34-40.) 

Q. If we use what property we have in this way, how 
will it appear as our " friend " ? 

A, It will be one means of ripening our souls for 
heaven ; and, when we grow old and die, it will have 
helped prepare us for those " everlasting habitations," 
where we shall be happy with our Heavenly Father, 
and Jesus Christ, and all pure sprits, forever. 

Q. What does Christ teach in verse 10 ? 

A. That those who act from Christian principle will 
be as careful to do right in small things as in great ; and, 
on the other hand, that those who are unjust or sinful in 
any little every -day action, will be likely to do wrong in 
greater matters. 

Q. What, then, is the only safe way ? 

A. To aim and strive to do right in every thing. 

Q. What is the purport of verse 11? 

A, Jesus implies that those who are not faithful and 
honest in their dealings with earthly property, cannot 
receive the " true riches " of heavenly faith, peace, hope, 
and eternal life. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 113 

Q. How are we to understand verse 12? 

A. Whatever we possess on earth belongs not so 
much to us as to God, who lends us all things. If we 
do not remember this, and devote all that we have to 
Him as His servants, but live selfishly, then " our own " 
peace and heavenly joy will be denied to us. 

Q. Are the words " another man's " a correct trans- 
lation from the original ? 

A. They are not ; we should read " that which is an- 
other's," referring to the gifts of God. 

Q. Will you state the meaning of Jesus in verse 
13? 

A. That we can have but one ruling desire, one su- 
preme purpose, one " master " of our hearts ; that if we 
try to have two, we shall still love one much more than 
the other ; and that if we would love and serve God 
heartily, we must be willing to let mammon, or the good 
things of the earth, go, and deny ourselves, and be con- 
tent with doing His will, as honor and happiness enough. 

Q. Will you state now the application of these truths 
to the parable of the unjust steward ? 

A. We are to be careful so to use our present life that 
we may gain the life everlasting, as the steward used his 
means to gain a home in the habitations of his friends. 
(1 St. Peter iv. 10.) 

Q. Are we not under much higher motives than he 
was ? 

A. Infinitely higher ; inasmuch as spiritual riches are 
more precious than worldly goods, and eternity is longer 
than our mortal life. 

Q. What, then, is the great lesson of this parable ? 

A, That we are to seek with far more diligence, all 



114 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

our lives, to be Christ's faithful disciples, than to be 
comfortable or rich. 



LESSON XXV. 

PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 

Q. What light may we gain from the connection 
respecting the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, re- 
corded in St. Luke's Gospel, xvi. 19-31 ? 

A. This is one of several parables which seem 
to have been spoken nearly at the same time ; and 
what first led -Jesus to deliver them was the blame 
thrown upon him by the scribes and Pharisees, because 
he was kind to publicans and sinners. (St. Luke xv. 
1, 2.) 

Q. What, then, did he probably wish to teach at this 
time ? 

A. That these scribes and Pharisees, and other Jews, 
proud as they were, had really no better claim to the 
blessings promised in the gospel than other people, like 
the Gentiles. 

Q. While this was one truth, what other point did he 
desire now to insist upon, as appears from the lesson pre- 
ceding this, and from verse 14 of this chapter? 

A. That the love of money is a hateful passion, and 
that they who indulge it bring on themselves misery 
hereafter. 

Q. What other name is sometimes applied to this 
parable ? 

A. It is sometimes called the parable of Dives and 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 115 

Lazarus, because Dives is the Latin word signifying rich 
man, 

Q, What is the meaning of the name Lazarus in the 
original ? 

A, It is the same as " Eleazar," and means " one 
who is helped by God." 

Q. How is the poverty of Lazarus touchingly repre- 
sented in contrast with this great wealth of Dives ? 

A. (See verses 20 and 21.) Only "crumbs" were 
asked for. 

Q. Was it customary in those days for the poor to 
receive food in charity at the gates of rich men's houses ? 

A. It was. 

Q. What was the rich man's crime ? 

A. " An unrelieved be.o -o :ar at his orate." 

Q, When this poor, diseased beggar died, what be- 
came of him ? 

A. (See verse 22.) 

Q, What are we to understand when we read that 
Lazarus was " carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom " ? 

A, It is an expression that was used in those days by 
the Jews to describe " the rest of the faithful." 

Q. Where do you find the history of Abraham, 
who was always so much reverenced by the Jewish 
people ? 

A. In Genesis, beginning at the twelfth chapter. 

Q. The rich man is represented as dying, and being 
afterwards in hell ; what is the word for " hell " in the 
original, and what is its signification ? 

A. The word is Hades, and it signifies the place of the 
dead, or the place where all the dead dwell together. 

Q, Dives and Lazarus being thus represented in the 



ves 



116 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

parable as being within sight of each other, and Dives 
being in torment, what does he ask ? 

A. (See verse 24.) 

Q. Why should he say " Father Abraham " ? 

A. All the Jews recognized Abraham as the father of 
their nation. 

Q. What reply is given to the rich man, and what 
reason is assigned for refusing his request ? 

A. (See verse 25.) 

Q. However much some of us may suffer on earth 
more than others, and however unequal our lot may seem 
here, with regard to sickness, trouble, poverty, etc., what 
are we to believe respecting our future condition ? 

A. That we shall receive according to our faith. 

Q. What other reason is assigned why Lazarus can- 
not comply with the request of the rich man ? 

A. (See verse 26.) 

Q. Must not the good and the bad be forever really 
separated from each other, both in this world and the 
next ? 

A. They must be : their tastes are different ; their 
affections are different ; their enjoyments are different ; 
their hearts are different ; and however near their bodies 
may be to one another, morally and spiritually they can 
never be really united. 

Q. What further request does Dives make ? 

A. (See verses 27 and 28.) 

Q. What reply is made to it ? 

A. (See verses 29-31.) 

Q. If we are not converted and sanctified with all the 
Christian opportunities and instructions that we are con- 
tinually receiving, have we any right to ask for more ? 

A. We have not ; for we have abundant means of 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 117 

improving now, and we must be hard-hearted if we are 
not benefited by them. 

Q. If all our religious advantages do not help us to be 
Christians, is it likely that we should be made so by see- 
ing some of our frieuds who have died appear again 
among us ? 

A. ^Ye have no reason to believe that we should, and 
it would be vain and wicked in us to ask for it. 

Q. Without dwelling on the reference Jesus may have 
had in this parable to the Jews and the Gentiles, and 
their comparative readiness to put faith in Him and His 
gospel, what is one great practical lesson that we may 
learn from it ? 

A. That under the Christian religion the rich and the 
poor are both judged according to their heart, and not 
according to their riches. 

Q. If the poorest and the most afflicted here only have 
faith in God, what must be their condition ? 

A. They must have a peace of tn*e soul, that on earth 
is worth far more than outward wealth ; and in heaven, 
where no earthly riches can follow us, they will be 
blessed forever. 

Q. If the rich are vicious, selfish, and worldly-minded, 
what must their condition be ? 

A. They must have an inward dissatisfaction and un- 
easiness which all their property cannot save them from, 
and hereafter they must suffer the fearful consequences 
of their sin. 

Q. But may not the rich be pure, generous, and dear 
to Christ? 

A. They may, if they will only make the effort, for 
God will help them. Abraham himself was rich. (Gen. 
xiii. 2.) 



118 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. "What are the words of Scripture that best set forth 
the law respecting our future life ? 

A. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap." (Gal. vi. 7, 8.) 



LESSON XXVI. 

PARABLE OP THE MAN AND HIS SERVANT. 

Q. What are the Apostles said to have asked their 
Master to do for them, in St. Luke's Gospel, xvii. 5 ? 

A. To increase their faith, so that they might be able 
to fulfill all the difficult duties which they would be called 
to perform as His followers. 

Q. Who were the Apostles ? 

A. They were those whom Jesus chose and sent forth 
to plant His Church and proclaim His doctrines. (See 
St. Matt. x. 1-4, ani Lesson II.) 

Q. When they asked for more faith, what did they 
desire ? 

A. That they might have more trust in God, and a 
stronger attachment to Christ. 

Q. What was the particular occasion of their making 
this petition ? 

A. They were probably afraid that the opposition and 
persecution of their enemies might tempt them to give 
up the preaching of Christ's doctrines, and forsake Him. 

Q. What were some of the sufferings they actually 
endured afterwards, which put their faith to the trial ? 

A. They were driven from one place to another, shut 
up in prison, called by the most disgraceful names, ac- 
cused of hating those whom they loved, and many of 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 119 

them were put to death in the most cruel and dreadful 
manner. 

Q. Though our trials are different from theirs, is there 
not need for us also every day to lift a similar prayer ? 

A. There is ; for every day we are tempted to sin in 
some way, and in every sin we forsake Christ. 

Q. Why did the Apostles ask Christ to increase their 
faith ? 

A. Because they felt that whatever faith they had 
they received from Him. 

Q. What reply did the Saviour make to their re- 
quest ? 

A. (St. Luke xvii. 6.) 

Q. This is evidently a figurative expression, not to be 
understood literally ; what, then, is meant by it ? 

A. That if His followers have the right kind of faith, 
they shall be able to do things extremely difficult in re- 
sisting temptation and performing duty, — things as diffi- 
cult otherwise, in a moral point of view, as pulling up a 
sycamine-tree is to the bodily strength, — and that the 
least real and vital faith has wonderful powers. 

Q. In what other place does Jesus use a similar figure 
of speech, to show how strong a true Christian faith may 
become ? 

A. (St. Matthew xxi. 21.) 

Q. Here (St. Luke xvii. 7) begins the parable of the 
man and his servant ; what is the design of this parable ? 

A. To show that when we have done our utmost, and 
reached the strongest faith possible, we have done no 
more than we ought. 

Q. When a man has a servant, does he expect to wait 
on the servant and to prepare his meals, or to have his 
servant wait on him ? 



120 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. Of course, to have the servant wait on him. 

Q. Why? 

A. Because he employs the servant, with a fair and 
honest understanding that this is to be his business. 

Q. And if the servant does this, does he perform his 
duty to his employer ? 

A. He performs it exactly, and no more than his 
duty. 

Q. What, then, is the reason that the employer does 
not think it necessary to thank the servant for such a 
service (verse 9) ? 

A. Because the terms of their agreement are only ful- 
filled, and the servant has not done a favor. 

Q. What is the meaning of " I trow not " ? 

A. " I think not." 

Q. What is the application Jesus makes of this par- 
able to His followers ? 

A. (Verse 10.) He says, that so, when we have done 
our best, we have done no favor to the Almighty, over 
and above our duty, but just our duty, and no more. 

Q. What is the meaning of the phrase, " unprofitable 
servants " ? 

A. Servants that have conferred no special obliga- 
tions, though they may have been very useful in their 
work. (Job. xxxv. 7.) 

Q. How does it appear that our obedience to God is 
no more than a servant's barely fulfilling his agreement 
with his master ? 

A. Because God has made us all that we are, and 
given us every thing we have, and, therefore, we owe 
to Him all that we can do. 

Q. When we do right, do we not perform really as 
great a service to ourselves as to any one else ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 121 

A. We do ; because we make ourselves happier and 
stronger. 

Q. When we have accomplished our utmost at being 
good, is our goodness at all equal to God's kindness and 
love to us ? 

A. It never can be ; for life, friends, health, joy, and 
faith are all His gifts. 

Q. And yet, how can we best show our gratitude to 
God for the blessings we receive from Him ? 

A. By doing His will, and offering Him our prayers. 

Q. But when we see that He is perfect, and infinitely 
greater and holier than we can be, how must we feel ? 

A. Very humble. 

Q. If, then, our best actions, and the purest lives we 
can lead, are no more than what is due to our Maker, 
what should our continued effort be ? 

A. To render Him this our humble service, at least, 
cheerfully and constantly. 

Q. How does this lesson make all wickedness ap- 
pear ? 

A. As doubly disgraceful in us, and doubly ungrate- 
ful ; for if goodness is no more than we owe to God, how 
much injustice and baseness are we guilty of when we 
do not render Him even that return ! 

Q. When our Father in heaven rewards us for doing 
well, is it because we earn that reward by any merit of 
our own ? 

A, Not at all ; but because He loves us, and pours 
out blessings upon us, of His own free bounty, and for 
the sake of the righteousness of Christ, which we make 
ours by faith. 



122 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XXVII. 

PARABLE OF THE UNJUST JUDGE. 

Q. Where is the parable of the unjust judge re- 
corded ? 

A. In the first eight verses of the eighteenth chapter 
of St. Luke's Gospel. 

Q. In the first verse it is said Jesus spake this para- 
ble " unto them " ; who were these persons ? 

A. His disciples. (St. Luke xvii. 22.) 

Q. Is it probable this parable was a continuation of 
the discourse of Jesus recorded in the latter part of the 
preceding chapter ? 

A. It is ; for we must remember that the division of 
the gospels into chapters was made for the convenience 
of the reader, and not to show that there was any inter- 
ruption in what was said or done by Christ and His fol- 
lowers. 

Q. What is the meaning of the phrase, " to this 
end " ? 

A. It means that Christ spoke the parable for the pur- 
pose of teaching this particular lesson. 

Q. And what is this lesson ? 

A. He shows us that we ought to be in the habit of 
praying constantly ; and that we should never be weary 
or discouraged in our prayers ; that we should not, for 
any cause, omit to pray, because, if we persevere, our 
prayers will be answered. 

Q. Does Jesus mean, in the second verse, to state it 
as a fact that there was really just such a judge as 
this ? 

A. He does not. He imagines such a person. It is 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 123 

as if He should say, " Let us suppose there was in a 
city," &c. 

Q. What was the office of such a " judge " as is here 
spoken of, in the time of our Saviour, and in His coun- 
try? 

A. There were actually three judges in every Jewish 
city ;• and it was their business to decide questions about 
property, to settle difficulties and quarrels between the 
citizens, and to see that certain guilty persons were pun- 
ished for their crimes. 

Q. Had the judge, who is here imagined by Jesus, 
the character that such an important officer ought to 
have? 

A. He had not ; for while a judge ought by all means 
to fear and serve God, who is the Great Judge of all 
men, and ought to imitate His justice, and have a tender 
regard for the rights of his fellow-men, this one " feared 
not God, neither regarded man." 

Q. What was the case presented to this wicked judge 
to decide ? 

A, A poor widow had been injured by an adversary, 
and she sought that what was her due might be restored 
to her. 

Q. Was the judge willing to attend to her request, 
and grant her what justice required ? 

A. He was not at first ; nor would he have been at 
all, for any regard to what was right and good, or any 
pity for her lonely condition. 

Q. What finally induced him to give his attention to 
her case ? 

A. It was simply the fear that by her " continual 
coming " to seek his aid, she might occupy his time, or 
intrude upon his comfort, and so annoy him. 



124 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What proof have we that she came to him more 
than once ? 

A. The word came, in the third verse, really signifies 
— in the Greek (the language in which this account 
was first written) — " she kept coming." 

Q. When the widow is represented as saying, "Avenge 
me," is it meant that she wished to have revenge, in a 
bad sense, and return evil for evil ? 

A. Not at all. With that meaning the parable would 
be very hard to understand. If that had been her re- 
quest, she ought to have been denied. 

Q. What, then, did she ask for ? 

A. She asked — as we find by ascertaining the signi- 
fication of the word that is translated avenge — only that 
she might have justice done her by a person who had 
wronged her. 

Q. Did the judge do any thing that was honorable or 
kind, or any thing that could be acceptable in the sight 
of God, when he granted her request ? 

A. He did not ; for although he did what was right in 
itself, yet, as he did it for the sake of his own ease, he 
acted from a selfish motive. 

Q. What would have been a noble and pure motive ? 

A. The religious love of doing right, or a regard to 
the poor widow. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Saviour's explanation 
of this parable in verses 7 and 8 ? 

A. That if even this unjust judge was persuaded to 
listen to the widow, against his inclinations, merely on 
account of her importuning him, how much more rea- 
son have we to believe that God, who is perfectly just 
and perfectly kind, will hear and answer the prayers of 
the children whom He loves ! 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 125 

Q. Who are intended by the "elect," in the 7th 
verse ? 

A. Those early Christians who, because they believed 
on Christ and followed Him, were called God's " elect," 
— that is, His "chosen ones." (St. Matt. xxiv. 31, and 
St. Mark xiii. 20, 22, 27.) 

Q. How do you understand the latter part of the 8th 
verse ? 

A. Jesus there mentions the danger lest, when a fair 
opportunity shall be given for the preaching of His gos- 
pel, few will be found on earth ready to receive it, and 
to have faith in Him and in His words. 

Q. But has not the parable a more general application ? 

A. It contains important truth that is applicable to 
every Christian, — to each one of us. 

Q. "Will you name one inference we are to draw 
from it ? 

A. That we should all be as anxious for spiritual 
blessings from God, and as constant and urgent in our 
prayers for His help in renewing our hearts and im- 
proving our characters, as we are to have justice done us 
in business transactions. 

Q. Will you mention another great truth that we are 
taught by this parable ? 

A. We are taught that God will surely hear those who 
earnestly call upon Him, — who are willing to " cry day 
and night unto Him." 

Q. Will you repeat the first part of what was said to 
be the chief lesson Jesus teaches here ? 

A, He encourages us to be in the habit of praying 
constantly ; " that we ought always to pray and not 
to faint." 

Q. Can you name and repeat some other passages in 



126 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

the New Testament, where this duty of " praying al- 
ways " is enjoined ? 

A. St. Luke xxi. 36 ; Romans xii. 12; Colossians iv. 
2 ; and 1 Thessalonians v. 17. 

Q. What do you understand, in these texts, by " pray- 
ing always," and " praying without ceasing ? " 

A. That we ought all to pray to God very frequently, 
every day we live, and thus maintain that devout dispo- 
sition, that trustful state of the mind, which never ceases, 
and which nothing but prayer can produce in us. 

Q. Will you mention some reasons why you should 
so pray ? 

A. Because we depend on God for every thing we 
have, — for all our possessions, our friends, our pleasures, 
our knowledge, our virtues, and our hopes of heaven ; 
because we thus please God, and keep His command- 
ments ; because we thus prove to Him that we are sin- 
cere in loving Him and trusting Him ; because our 
communion with Him must purify our souls, cleanse 
our hearts from bad passions and evil desires, enable 
us to keep all our best resolutions ; to be useful to our 
fellow-men, and give us inward strength* and peace. 

Q. What is the other part of the chief lesson of this 
parable ? 

A. That we need never be weary or discouraged in 
our prayers. 

Q. In what other texts of the New Testament are we 
shown that we should wait patiently for our Heavenly 
Father to hear us and bless us ? 

A. St. James v. 7, 8 ; Hebrews x. 36 ; 2 Thessalo- 
nians iii. 5 ; St. Luke xxi. 19. 

Q. How does it happen that we often become dis- 
couraged in our prayers ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 127 

A. We are impatient, and in haste for some visible 
answer, instead of submitting entirely to the loving will 
of God. 

Q. Can we expect to know the best method in which 
our petitions shall be fulfilled ? 

A. We cannot. We ought to believe that God will 
answer us in some way, though the answer may be in- 
visible, spiritual, in the secret benefits of the soul. 

Q. What should be our feeling when we supplicate 
earthly blessings ? 

A. We should feel, that to receive precisely what we 
ask for might be the most serious evil, and therefore we 
should be willing to leave all results with Him who 
careth for us as a parent, adding to our other requests, 
" Father, Thy will, not mine, be done ! " 

Q. What is a great encouragement to us to continue 
our endeavors to pray, in a reverential and humble 
spirit, even when we begin to be disheartened ? 

A. The cheering fact that the more we engage in de- 
votion, the more delightful does it become, while our 
compassionate Father never fails to listen to the sincere 
cry of His children. 

Q. What is the true way for a Christian to regard 
prayer ? 

A. As his dearest privilege, since it brings him to his 
Lord and his Lord to him. 



128 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XXVIII. 

PARABLE OF THE PUBLICAN AND THE PHARISEE. 

Q. Where do you find the parable of the publican 
and the Pharisee ? 

A. In St. Luke xviii. 9-14. 

Q. For whose benefit and instruction was it especially 
designed ? 

A. (See verse 9.) 

Q. What was the object of the Pharisees in their 
prayers ? 

A. To make themselves appear pious to other men, 
but not to commune with God, or be made holier. 

Q. What did they think the excellence of a prayer 
consisted in ? 

A, In its length, and in the sanctimonious air with 
which it is offered. 

Q. What were they soon guilty of, accordingly ? 

A. Insincerity, and often the basest hypocrisy. 

Q. What does the excellence of prayer really con- 
sist in ? 

A. In the feeling of humility, penitence, and simple 
faith which is in the heart when the prayer is made. 

Q. How does Jesus illustrate this contrast between a 
true prayer and a false one ? 

A. By giving an example of both, in this parable. 

Q. What was the office of a "publican," or tax- 
gatherer ? 

A. (See Lesson XXII.) 

Q. What was the Pharisee's prayer in fact, as it is 
given in verse 11 ? 

A. It was a vain boast of his own goodness. 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 129 

Q. Are we to understand, of course, that this person 
was as good as he represented himself to be ? 

A. Not by any means ; in those points in which men 
think themselves to be strong, they are very apt to be 
weak. 

Q. Suppose that he had been as good as he thought 
himself, would his goodness, even according to his own 
account, have been of the highest kind ? 

A. It would not ; for, on the one hand, he would only 
be free from certain flagrant vices, and, on the other, he 
would be scrupulous about certain outward ceremonies. 
He might be all this, and yet be quite empty of benev- 
olence and kindness, or an earnest love for God. 

Q, Is it sufficient for us, in the sight of God, that we 
can say we are no worse than others ? 

A. It is not ; we should have a higher standard. 

Q. Is it enough that we are able to say we do no harm 
to others ? 

A. It is not ; for we ought to do a great deal of good 
to others. 

Q. Did the Pharisees think it a great merit to fast 
twice in the week ? 

A. They did, — on Mondays and Thursdays. 

Q. What was it to give " tithes of all that he pos- 
sessed " ? 

A. To pay a certain proportion (a tenth) of his prop- 
erty, as a sort of tax, for religious purposes. (See Les- 
son XVIL, and Deut. xiv. 22.) 

Q. When do we make a right use of church-cere- 
monies and particular days like a fast? 

A. When we employ them heartily. 
Q. When do we make a wrong and false use of 
them. 

9 



130 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. When we make them stand instead of a holy- 
heart, and employ them to excuse ourselves from other 
duties. 

Q. Can such things as these ever be substitutes for 
faith, or release us, in the sight of God, from performing 
all our daily duties ? 

A. Never. (St. Matt, xxiii. 23.) 

Q. As the Pharisee gives us an example of pride and 
disgusting self-admiration, what does the publican give 
us an example of in his prayer ? 

A. Of humility and beautiful penitence and devo- 
tion. 

Q. What is implied (verse 13) by his " standing afar 
off"? 

A. That he did not wish to thrust himself into notice, 
as the Pharisees did (St. Matt. vi. 5), but to retire out 
of sight. 

Q. How does the same humility appear in the next 
clause ? 

A. He " would not lift up so much as his eyes unto 
heaven," but fixed them on the ground — a token of his 
lowliness before God. 

Q. How does the same humble sense of unworthiness 
appear yet farther ? 

A. In the next expression, — he " smote upon his 
breast," — a movement indicating self-reproach and sor- 
row. 

Q. But how is this humility manifested yet more 
clearly ? 

A. In the prayer he breathes to God, where he con- 
fesses that he is a sinner, and entreats forgiveness : — 
" God be merciful to me a sinner." " Me ; " 1 Tim. i. 
15, 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 131 

Q. What may we learn from this ? 

A. That our prayers should be offered in lowliness of 
spirit. 

Q. What reason do we find for this in the next 
verse ? 

A. Jesus assures us, on His own authority, that who- 
ever prays thus will be justified in the sight of God, 
rather than the one who pretends to pray, with pharisaic 
pride in his heart. 

Q. What is the meaning of the word " justified " 
here? 

A, " Looked upon as having a right heart, and, there- 
fore, forgiven." 

Q. In the brief moral that is appended to this para- 
ble in verse 14, what is said of every person who " ex- 
alteth himself," that is, praises himself, and thinks too 
highly of himself ? 

A. That he " shall be abased," that is, a low place 
will be given him in the esteem of mankind, who will 
soon find out his real worth, and in the unerring judg- 
ment of God. 

Q. On the other hand, how will it be with those who 
humble themselves, or feel their deficiencies, and cherish a 
lowly temper ? 

A. They " shall be exalted," in the high regard of 
good men, and. in the favor of God., (See verse 17.) 

Q. When we pray, what should we remember ? 

A. That He sees the secrets of our hearts, and that 
we cannot possibly deceive Him. 

Q. What, then, may we always do without fear ? 

A. Confess all our faults, and beseech Him to pardon 
them. 



132 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XXIX. 

PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS. 

Q. Where and when did our Lord deliver the para- 
ble of the ten pounds ? 

A. On His last journey to Jerusalem. (See St. Luke 
xix. 1.) 

Q. Where do. you find the occasion and object of this 
parable stated ? 

A. In verse 11th. 

Q. What was the occasion of it ? 

A. Jesus saw that His disciples expected Him to make 
Himself a king, according to the old notion of the Jewish 
people, and establish an earthly empire, with power and 
splendor. 

Q. What did He teach them respecting this expecta- 
tion ? 

A. That it was false, and that He had no such inten- 
tion at His first coming. 

Q. What did He always tell them was His great pur- 
pose ? 

A. To redeem them from sin, and make them better in 
heart and life, — not richer, or more favored in political 
privileges, or any outward condition. 

Q. What kind of a " kingdom," then, did He wish to 
establish ? 

A. A spiritual kingdom, coming with power, built and 
felt in the soul, and embodied in the Church of the Liv- 
ing God. 

Q. What does Jesus show respecting this kingdom, in 
the parable before us ? 

-4. That it is offered to all alike ; and that just ac- 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 13S 

cording as men use or neglect the light and truth given 
them in Him shall they be blessed or be miserable. 

Q. What is the story of the parable ? 

A. A certain nobleman, expecting to be made the 
prince or king of the country where he lives, goes to a 
distant place to receive the office from a higher govern- 
ment. 

Q. Was this actually done in Judea ? 

A. It was ; the ruler of that country went to Rome to 
secure his office, for Judea was under the control of the 
Roman emperor. 

Q. What is the nobleman said to do before he starts 
on this journey ? 

A. (Verse 13.) 

Q. What was the value of one of these pounds, or 
minas ? 

A. Probably about twenty dollars. 

Q. What is the meaning of " Occupy till I come " ? 

A. " Use this money, — invest it in trade to increase 
its amount." 

Q. What took place after this nobleman departed ? 

A. (Verse 14.) A remonstrance was sent to the em- 
peror by the people, urging him not to appoint this 
nobleman as the prince. 

Q. Was the remonstrance successful ? 

A. It appears not, from verse 15. 

Q. On the nobleman's return to his country, as a 
prince, what did he do ? 

A. (Verse 15.) 

Q. The ten servants having received at the beginning 
a pound, or mina, each, to trade with, what does the first 
of them say he has gained by trading with his ? 

A. (Verse 16.) 



134 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. How does the newly-appointed prince reward him, 
in distributing the offices of his government ? 

A. (Verse 17.) He gives him the place of a subor- 
dinate governor over ten cities. 

Q. What happened in relation to the second serv- 
ant ? 

A. (Verses 18, 19.) 

Q. What appears respecting the third servant in 
verses 20 and 21 ? 

A. That he had been idle, . and thought ill of his 
master. 

Q. How did the prince treat him for his indolence 
and unfaithfulness ? 

A. (Verses 22-24.) 

Q. Does the prince admit that he was really an aus- 
tere, or hard and exacting man, in verse 22 ? 

A. He does not ; he only says to the servant, If you 
thought me so, your duty was, for that very reason, to 
be industrious, and prepare for a reckoning with me. 

Q. What is verse 25 ? 

A. It is a remark thrown in by some person standing 
by, — surprised that the one talent this servant had 
should be taken from him and given to the one who had 
ten talents already. . , 

Q. How does Jesus reply to this remark, and defend 
the conduct of the prince in this particular ? 

A. He says (verse 26), that those who apply them- 
selves earnestly to their duty shall not only retain what 
they have, but gain more ; while those who are careless 
will lose what little they may have. (See also St. Luke 
viii. 18.) 

Q. Who are the persons alluded to in verse 27 who 
are so awfully punished ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 135 

A. They are "enemies" mentioned in verse 14. 

Q. Whom, now, does Jesus represent by the "noble- 
man," or prince, in this parable ? 

A. Himself, as the author of the gospel, that is, as the 
head, or prince, of the spiritual kingdom of righteousness 
and truth. 

Q. Who are the " servants " ? 

A. All who are acquainted with the gospel of Christ. 

Q. What is the pound committed to every one of 
these servants ? 

A. This gospel of Christ and His salvation. 

Q. When was Christ disowned in the terms of the 
parable ? 

A. At the crucifixion. (St. John xix. 15.) 

Q. What, then, are you to learn from this parable ? 

A, That in proportion as I improve my religious ad- 
■ vantages, with faith in the Saviour, I shall be blessed. 

Q. Suppose you do not improve your opportunities, 
but are careless, selfish, and disobedient ? 

A. Then I am taught here that what little peace and 
comfort I have in my soul must grow less and less, till 
nothing is left me but remorse, anguish, and sorrow of 
heart. 

fQ. Who are those that must expect the awful fate 
pointed out in verse 27 ? 

A. Those who will not try to lead Christian lives, be- 
1 lieving and following Christ. 

Q. What fearful event did Jesus probably allude to, 
which happened soon after that time ? 

A. The destruction of Jerusalem, when multitudes of 
1 those who would not believe on Him, and be His dis- 
ciples, were killed and burnt by the Roman armies. 

Q. How is the lesson of this parable encouraging ? 



136 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. It shows us that no faith we can gain will be lost, 
or fail of being a source of good to us. 

Q. How is it solemn ? 

A. It shows us that our condition here and hereafter 
depends on our characters. 



LESSON XXX. 

THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS. 

Q. What course did Jesus take after He delivered 
the parable of the last lesson ? 

A. (St. Luke xix. 28 ; St. John xii. 1-14.) 

Q. What great feast were many Jews going up to 
Jerusalem at this time to attend ? 

A. The Feast of the Passover. (St. John xi. 55.) 

Q. What was the Passover among the Jews ? 

A. It was a feast kept by that nation at the time of 
the year which with us is the Spring ; the same that the 
Church keeps at Easter, to celebrate the death and res- 
urrection of Christ. (See 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) 

Q. What was the object of it ? 

A. To commemorate the night when their ancestors 
escaped from their bondage under Pharaoh, in Egypt, 
and commenced their journey towards Palestine, which 
was afterwards their home. (Exod. xii.) 

Q. What especial mercy did God show that night to 
the Jews, or Israelites, which gave its name to this 
feast ? 

A. While God destroyed the eldest child in every 
family of the Egyptians, for their wickedness, he passed 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 137 

over, or spared, the families of the Israelites, whom He 
did not wish to punish. 

Q. After the arrival of Jesus at Jerusalem, how does 
it appear that He spent the days ? 

A. Teaching in the Temple. (See St. Matt. xxi. 1-9, 
and St. Mark xi. 11 ; also on the next day, St. Matt. 
xxi. 10-17 ; also on the day after, St. Matt. xxi. 23.) 

Q. When was this parable of the two sons deliv- 
ered? 

A. On the last of the days just mentioned (see St. 
Matt. xxi. 23-32), as He was teaching in the great 
Temple. 

Q. With whom does it appear that Jesus passed the 
nights at this time ? 

A. With His friends, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, at 
Bethany. (See St. Matt. xxi. 17, and St. Mark xi. 

no 

Q. What led to this parable of the two sons ? 

A. A conversation of Jesus with the chief priests and 
elders, related in verse 23, &c., of St. Matt. xxi. 

Q. What was the character of these "chief priests 
and elders " ? 

A. The same with that described as belonging to the 
" scribes and Pharisees," in Lesson XXII. 

Q. What was their error ? 

A. Supposing that fasting, and paying tithes, and dis- 
puting with each other about questions that had no con- 
nection with character, were things of more consequence 
than benevolence, justice, and piety. 

Q. In the parable (verse 28), a man is supposed to 
have two sons of different characters ; what does he re- 
quest one of them to do ? 

A. To go and labor in his vineyard, or garden of 
grapes. 



138 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What reply did this son make ? 

A. (Verse 29.) 

Q. What, may we suppose, had been the character 
this son ? 

A. Up to this time he had been disobedient and self- 
willed, as appears from his rude answer to his father. 

Q. What probably induced him afterwards to repent 
of that answer, and go to the work ? 

A. He reflected on his duties to his father, and was 
ashamed to disobey him, or refuse his request. 

Q. What is the father represented as saying to the 
other son ? 

A. (Verse 30.) 

Q. What was the character of this son ? 

A. He did not keep his promise ; he pretended to be 
obedient, but ran away from his duty. 

Q. Whom did Jesus intend to describe under the char- 
acter of this second son ? 

A. The scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and 
elders. 

Q. Why? 

A. Because they professed to be righteous, but were 
not. (Verses 31, 32.) 

Q. How are we in danger of being like them ? 

A. If we are good only in our own estimation, but do 
not strive constantly to live for Christ. 

Q. When we form a good resolution only to break it 
soon, how is our character apt to be affected ? 

A. To be hardened in sin, and led farther astray 
from duty. 

Q. Having committed ourselves to a right course, 
either openly or in our own minds, what should we apply 
all our energies to do ? 



- 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 139 

A. To persevere in it, resolutely and nobly. 

Q. Wherein are you to imitate the first-mentioned 
son ? 

A. Not in refusing to do my duty at first, but in really 
performing it, both towards my earthly parents and to- 
wards my Father in heaven. 

Q. If you have foolishly refused to do right, what is 
the first thiDg to be done ? 

A. To repent, to feel humble sorrow, and to go 
straight to perform that which I have hitherto neg- 
lected. 

Q. Who, then, are described by Jesus under the char- 
acter of the first-mentioned son ? 

A. Those who are sinful and thoughtless for a time, 
but who afterwards sincerely turn to a Christian course 
of life. 

Q. What does Jesus uniformly teach shall become of 
such persons ? 

A. They shall be forgiven, accepted, and blessed by 
our Heavenly Father. 

Q. What course can you point out that would have 
been far better than that pursued by either of these two 
sons ? 

A. To have said, " I will go, sir," and then to have 
gone to the Christian labor cheerfully, and industriously 
performing it, would have been the beautiful and worthy 
conduct of a truly filial and dutiful child. 

Q. How, then, would you draw from that example 
your right conduct towards God ? 

A. I should never hesitate to follow His command- 
ments, but always find satisfaction in doing His will. 



140 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XXXI. 

PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD LET OUT TO HUSBAND- 
MEN. 






Q. When was this parable spoken ? 

A. Immediately after that contained in the last lesson, 
and while Jesus was teaching in the temple, the Tuesday 
before His crucifixion. 

Q. Where do you find it? 

A. In St. Matt. xxi. 33, &c, and also in St. Mark xii. 
1-9, and St. Luke xx. 9-16. 

Q. What is the householder represented by Jesus as 
doing ? 

A. (Verse 33.) 

Q. What part of the " wine-press " was the * vat " ? 

A. It was a tub, in which the wine was received after 
it was trodden out of the grapes that grew in the vine- 
yard. 

Q. What was the " tower " built for ? 

A. As a post of observation, to guard the vineyard 
from all kinds of depredation. 

Q. The householder, being still absent when the fruit 
became ripe, does what ? 

A. (Verse 34.) 

Q. How do the husbandmen, to whom he intrusted 
the care of the vineyard, treat the servants whom he 
now sends for the fruit ? 

A. (Verses 35, 36.) 

Q. But what right had the householder to these 
fruits ? 

A. He had " let out " the vineyard to these husband- 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 141 

men, and according to customs then prevailing he was to 
receive a certain portion of the fruits as the rent. 

Q. What was the object of these wicked and cruel 
husbandmen, in so treating these servants ? 

A. To avoid giving up what they owed to the house- 
holder, and keep all to themselves. 

Q. How did the owner suppose they would regard his 
own son ? 

A. (Verse 37.) 

Q. What object had the husbandmen in putting him 
to death ? 

A. To secure not only the fruits of the season, but the 
vineyard itself, by destroying liim who was to inherit it. 
(Verses 38, 39.) 

Q. Jesus, after relating the parable thus far, asks 
those who hear Him what must be expected to be done 
to those wicked husbandmen, by the owner, or u lord," 
of the vineyard. — and what is their reply ? 

A. (Verse 41.) 

Q. How did they commit themselves, unknowingly, 
by this answer ? 

A. They might not have perceived that the very 
meaning of the parable was a bitter reproof of them- 
selves. 

Q. How was it so ? 

A. Jesus meant these rulers of the Jews, by the " hus- 
bandmen " whom He described. 

Q. Who, then, was the " householder," or " lord of 
the vineyard " ? 

A. The Creator. (Is. v. 1.) 

Q. What were the " fruits " due to Him from His 
people, the Jews? 

A. Fruitful and holy lives. 



142 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Did they yield Him those fruits ? 

A. They did not ; but when messengers came to teach 
them faithfulness and holiness, they persecuted or slew 
them. 

Q. Who were these messengers, or teachers, or " serv- 
ants," that God sent, from time to time, to recall the 
Jews to their duty ? 

A. Prophets and wise men, such as Elijah, Samuel, 
Isaiah, &c. (2 Chron. xxxvi. 15.) 

Q. Were such persons actually put to death by the 
Jews ? 

A. They were. (See 1 Kings xviii. 13 ; Jer. xxxviii. 
6; Heb. xi. 32, 37 ; and St. Luke xi. 50-51.) 

Q. Who was " the son," that was at last sent ? 

A. Jesus Christ, the dearly beloved Son of God. 

Q. What, then, was the blindest sin of all in the 
Jews ? 

A. That they put to death that Son of God ; that they 
crucified the Saviour of the world. 

Q. What passage does Jesus apply to Himself from 
the Psalms ? 

A. (Ps. cxviii. 22, 23.) 

Q. Why does Jesus compare Himself to a stone re- 
jected by the masons as unfit for use, yet afterwards 
found worthy to be the head-stone at the corner of the 
building ? 

-4. Because He was at first to be rejected and slain by 
the Jews, but afterwards to be the Head of the whole 
Christian Church, honored and reverenced as the Saviour 
of men. 

Q. How was the warning of verse 43 fulfilled on the 
Jews ? 

A, A few years after, their nation was destroyed, their 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 143 

chief city was leveled to the ground, and the " king- 
dom " was " taken from " them. 

Q. What is the meaning of Christ's language in verse 
44? 

A, Whoever shall resist Christ and His truth shall 
come to nothing ; and whoever, by willful sin, shall ex- 
pose himself to the judgments of Christ's religion, shall 
be terribly destroyed by them. (Heb. x. 25-31.) 

Q. How did the Pharisees feel (verses 45, 46), when 
they saw that Jesus was rebuking them by His par- 
ables ? 

A. They wished to take vengeance on Him, but 
dared not, because a multitude believed and followed 
Him. 

Q. How should we all feel respecting our lives in this 
world ? 

A. That we owe the " fruits " of them to our Heav- 
enly Father, and that He has a right to our service. 

Q. When we see that He is sending us messengers 
and teachers of so many kinds, what should our disposi- 
tion be ? 

A. To be persuaded by all that we feel, and hear, and 
see, and suffer, to put our whole faith in God, and do 
His will faithfully. 

Q. What should we feel to be the one thing that 
should draw our gratitude most perfectly to God ? 

A. The gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to 
live and suffer, and be reproached, and put to death on 
earth, that He might bring us to Eternal Life. 

Q. What is the least service we can render to show 
our gratitude for such mercy ? 

A. (Rom. xii. 1.) 



144 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

LESSON XXXII. 

PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE-FEAST. 

Q. Where was Jesus when He uttered the parable 
of the marriage-feast ? 

A. He was in Jerusalem, at the great Temple, on 
Tuesday of Holy Week. 

Q. Where do you find this parable ? 

A. In the first fourteen verses of the 2 2d chapter of 
St. Matthew. 

Q. What other parable of our Lord that you have 
studied closely resembles this ? 

A. The parable of the Great Supper, in St. Luke 
xiv. 10-24, spoken on a different occasion. 

Q. It appears from verses 2 and 3 that a king is 
spoken of here as having made a marriage, or marriage- 
feast, for his son ; what can you say of such feasts in 
the time of the Saviour ? 

A. Marriage-feasts, among the Jews, and in the time 
of Christ, were very splendid. Whenever a rich person 
was married, great preparations were made ; costly dishes 
were provided, and a large number of guests were in- 
vited. 

Q. How long did these wedding festivals sometimes 
continue ? 

A. Seven days. 

Q. It seems, from verse 3, that this king sent two in- 
vitations to the guests ; was this customary ? 

A. It was ; one was sent a considerable time before- 
hand ; and then, just before the wedding, servants were 
sent out to call the guests in. (Esther vi. 14.) 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 145 

Q. What do you say of the kindness of this king in 
sending out a third time, when his previous invitations 
had been scorned ? 

A, It left them no excuse for not coming. 

Q. Read verse 4, to see what his message was this 
time ; what were " fatlings " ? 

A. Fatted beasts, killed for the dinner. 

Q. Did the persons who were invited pay any atten- 
tion to this last message ? 

A, They did not (see verse 5) ; and some of them 
were so ungrateful and cruel as to abuse and destroy the 
servants that brought it. 

Q. What is the meaning of " entreated them spite- 
fully"? 

A. " Treated them spitefully, or maliciously " ; entreat 
does not mean here beseech, as with us. 

Q. Was it considered as peculiarly insulting, among 
the Jews, to whom Christ was now speaking, to neglect 
or refuse to attend a wedding ? 

A. It was ; more so than among us. 

Q. What did the king do to punish this wickedness ? 

A. (See verse 7.) 

Q. What did he do next ? 

A. (See verses 8 and 9.) 

Q. As the invited guests had refused to come, who 
now had the privilege of attending the feast? 

A. The poor, strangers, and beggars from the high- 
ways. (See verse 10.) 

Q. What was the " wedding-garment," which the man 
mentioned in verse 11 had not on ? 

A. It was a robe, which every guest was required to 
put on before he went in to the feast. 

Q. When this man was called to account for having 
' 10 



146 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

come in his common clothes, without this robe, why was 
he " speechless " ? 

A. Because he had no good excuse to offer for do- 
ing so. 

Q. But if these guests were poor people, brought in 
from the streets, was it not unreasonable to suppose that 
they had the means of furnishing themselves with such 
a garment ? 

A. Not at all ; for it was the custom of persons who 
gave such entertainments to provide gifts for the guests, 
and to furnish garments without expense. (2 Kings 
v. 5.) 

Q. How do we learn this ? 

A. Travellers and historians, well acquainted with the 
habits of the Jews, have told us so. Some rich men had 
hundreds, or even thousands, of these garments, ready for 
use in their houses. (Esther ii. 18.) 

Q. What reason, then, could this man have had for 
not putting on such a robe ? 

A. He was either shamefully careless, or else he was 
willing to disoblige and insult the king, and offend the 
rest of the company, by appearing in a singular and 
mean dress, and refusing the gift. 

Q. What method did the king take to reprove this 
man's impudence ? 

A. He ordered him to be " bound," so that he could 
not resist, and then to be taken away from the feast. 

Q. What is meant when it is said he was to be cast 
into u outer darkness " ? 

A. These feasts were held in the evening, and the 
man was taken from the bright light of the illuminated 
apartments into the darkness out of doors. 

Q. Why is it said " there shall be weeping and gnash- 
ing of teeth " ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 147 

A, The man would be so disappointed and mortified 
at being punished and turned out of the feast, that he 
would weep with rage, and gnash his teeth in anger. 

Q. Will you state now the Saviour's object in relating 
this story ? 

A. To show that many who have had a free oppor- 
tunity have yet willfully and wickedly refused to enter 
into the " kingdom of heaven." (See verse 2.) 

Q. When He compares this feast to the " kingdom of 
heaven," what does He signify ? 

A. To understand and believe His teachings, and to 
live as they direct us to live, is to belong to His u king- 
dom," or His u Church," and this is a feast 

Q. Is not this a feast much more precious than any 
other ? 

A. It ought to be regarded so, for it is a spiritual 
feast, and it lasts forever. 

Q. Who is the " king " that spreads before us every 
day this feast ? 

A. God, our Father. 

Q. Who are the " servants " that God sends to invite 
us to this feast ? 

A. The holy Apostles, and all ministers of the gospel. 

Q. To whom did the Apostles offer to teach that truth 
first? 

A. To the Jewish nation, to which they themselves 
belonged. 

Q. How did these Jews receive the offer ? 

A. They would not believe, but they persecuted and 
put to death those who attempted to teach them, like the 
bad men in the parable. 

Q. How was verse 7 fulfilled in the case of these 
Jews ? 



148 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. The " armies " of the Romans came, a few years 
after, and " destroyed " as many as eleven hundred thou- 
sand Jews, and u burned up their city," Jerusalem. 

Q. Whom are we to understand by those in the 
" highways," that were afterwards invited to the privi- 
leges of the Church? 

A. The men of all other nations, " bad and good," not 
Jews. (See Acts xiii. 46, 47, and St. Matt. viii. 11.) 

Q. What excuses are we apt to make for not regard- 
ing Christ's invitation ? 

A. We foolishly pretend that we have not time, when 
we have time ; or, more often, we neglect Him, because 
we are too much taken up with worldly thoughts and 
amusements, as the men in the parable were with their 
" farms " and their " merchandise." 

Q. What is the Bride of Christ ? 

A. The Bride is the Church. (Eph. v. 25-27 ; Rev. 
xxii. 17, and xix. 9.) 

Q. How can you apply to yourself what is said of the 
man that had not on " a wedding-garment " ? 

A. We can only " come holy and clean to the heav- 
enly feast " of the Lord's Supper below, or of the Mar- 
riage Supper in heaven, by having our Saviour's right- 
eousness, put on by faith and love. (Isaiah lxiv. 5, and 
lxi. 10 ; Rev. xix. 8.) 



LESSON XXXIII. 

PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

Q. Where does it appear that the parable of the vir- 
gins must have been spoken by Jesus ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 149 

A. On the Mount of Olives, a height of ground near 
Jerusalem, whither he retired after delivering the pre- 
ceding parables in the Temple. (See St. Matt. xxiv. 3.) 

Q. Where is it written ? 

A. In St. Matt. xxv. 1-12. 

Q. What reason have you to suppose that it was a 
part of the discourse of the Saviour recorded in the pre- 
vious chapter ? 

A. It begins with the word u Then" as if it were a 
continuation of what goes before ; and, besides, the sub- 
ject is the same. 

Q. What is that subject ? 

A. Jesus is urging on His followers the duty of watch- 
fulness, the duty of being prepared for a great change 
(xxiv. 42). 

Q. What does He call the whole of His followers in 
verse 1 ? 

A. The " kingdom of heaven." 

Q. What does He compare them to ? 

A. To a band of maidens going out to join the bride- 
groom at a wedding. (Ps. xlv. 15.) 

Q. What custom is alluded to here, which prevailed 
among the Jews ? 

A. Their weddings were observed with much parade ; 
the bridegroom marched to the house of the bride's 
father, and having received the bride at her home, this 
procession again marched to the bridegroom's house, with 
music, torches, and great gayety. 

Q. Is this custom still kept up in Eastern countries ? 

A. It is. 

Q. What were the " lamps " ? 

A. They resembled torches, and were used to make 
a brilliant display, — these weddings being held in the 
night 



150 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. Why are a part of these young women who went 
out to meet the bridegroom said to have been " wise " ? 

A. Because, as they did not know the time when the 
bridegroom would arrive, they had the prudence and 
forethought to take oil enough to keep their lamps burn- 
ing (verse 4). 

Q. Why were the others " foolish " ? 

A. Because they took so little oil that it was burnt 
out while they were waiting for the bridegroom (verse 3). 

Q. As they all waited at a certain point, what hap- 
pened in consequence of the bridegroom's delay ? 

A. They all fell asleep (verse 5). 

Q. When at last, at midnight, the bridegroom ap- 
proached, what took place? 

A. They awaked, and made ready to receive him 
(verses 6 and 7). 

Q. What did the foolish virgins saj to the wise ? 

A. (Verse 8.) 

Q. What reply was made to them ? 

A. (Verse 9.) 

Q. How did these careless and foolish virgins learn 
the folly of not being prepared beforehand? 

A. They returned too late with their oil, and were 
shut out from the wedding-feast, because they were not 
in the procession (verse 10). 

Q. What did they cry out, in their disappointment ? 

A. " Open to us," and allow us to come in. 

Q. What reply did the bridegroom make to them ? 

A. " I know you not " ; that is, " I have not seen you 
in the procession of my friends, and, therefore, I cannot 
admit you to the supper." 

Q. How does Jesus apply the lesson of this parable to 
His disciples ? 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 151 

A. He says, " Watch, therefore, for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh " 
(verse 13). 

Q. Whom does the Saviour mean by the " Son of 
Man " ? 

A. Himself. 

Q. What time does He refer to here, as the " coming 
of the Son of Man " ? 

A. His reappearance, in power and great glory, to 
take the Kingdom and reign visibly and personally on 
the earth. (Zech. xiv. 4r-9 ; 1 Thess. iv. 16 ; Rev. 
xix. 7.) 

Q. Does the gospel tell- us when the time of. this 
" coming again in His glorious majesty " shall be ? 

A. It fixes no time ; but the Saviour says it shall be 
before " this generation shall pass away." 

Q. What, then, is meant by " this generation ? " 

A. The Jewish people. 

Q. At what season of the Church-year is the doctrine 
of Christ's second coming or advent, brought specially 
to mind ? 

A. At the Advent season ; because the first and second 
comings are naturally associated together, — the second 
being the fulfillment of the first. (See Collect for First 
Sunday in Advent.) 

Q. To those of us that are to die before the time of 
that future coming, where will be the Christian's vision 
of Christ ? 

A. In the other world, after death. 

Q. How is that meeting regarded by the Apostles, in 
their great love for their Redeemer ? 

A. As the most inspiring and joyful of all the expected 
events of their life. (Phil. i. 23.) 



152 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q, Practically, how ought the time of Christ's appear- 
ing always to be regarded ? 

A. As near at hand. (Phil. iv. 5 ; 1 Thess. v. 1, 2, 23 ; 
1 Pet. iv. 7 ; Rev. xxii. 20.) 

Q. What is the right preparation for it ? 

A. Faithful love and service here to our Lord, who 
is to appear to gather His own to Himself. (2 Pet. i. 
10.) 

Q. What will make you like the foolish virgins ? 

A. To be unprepared, "asleep," thinking only of 
other things, or caring nothing for our Lord and His 
spiritual kingdom. (St. Matt. xiii. 5.) 

Q. What door will be shut against you then ? 

A. The door of repentance and faith, which is the 
door of heaven. 

Q. And since you do not know what may happen the 
next hour or moment, what is your first duty ? 

A. To " watch " always ; to be ready now. (See 1 
Thess. v. 6.) Serving Christ is going out to meet the 

Bridegroom. 

♦ 

LESSON XXXIV. 

PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 

Q. What words, in the opinion of learned students 
of the Scriptures, may be put in the place of the expres- 
sion " the kingdom of heaven," in St. Matt. xxv. 14 ? 

A. The Son of Man, that is, the Saviour, in whom 
the whole " kingdom of heaven " is included and em- 
bodied. 

Q. What does Jesus then go on to compare Himself 
to, in the parable of the talents ? 






LESSONS ON* THE PARABLES. 153 

A. (Verse 14.) 

Q. What is this man represented as doing, when he 
leaves home ? 

A. (Verses 14 and 15.) 

Q. What was his object in this ? 

A. He wished his property to be put to a good use 
and increased during his absence. 

Q. How much was a ki talent " ? 

A. Its exact value in our money is not determined, 
but it amounted to more than a thousand dollars. 

Q. How did he who received the largest sum in trust 
deal with it ? 

A. (Verse 16.) 

Q. And how did he who received the next smaller 
sum, or two talents, deal with his trust ? 

A. (Verse 17.) 

Q. What did he who received the smallest sum do ? 

A. (Verse 18.) 

Q. Will you describe what took place when the mas- 
ter or u lord " came and reckoned with the Jirst of these 
servants ? 

A. (Verses 20 and 21.) 

Q. What is meant by the expression u Enter thou 
into the joy of thy lord " ? 

A, u Enter into the enjoyment of the blessings which 
your master will give you for your faithfulness." 

Q. What took place when the second servant was 
reckoned with ? 

A. (Verses 22 and 23.) 

Q. What account did the third servant have to give ? 

A. (Verse 24.) 

Q. What severe sentence does the master pronounce 
on this idle and unprofitable servant ? 



154 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

A. (Verses 26-30.) 

Q. Does the master mean to admit (verse 26) that 
he was a hard, unfeeling, and unreasonable person, as 
the servant had accused him of being ? 

A. He does not ; but only to say that, if this was the 
servant's opinion, he ought certainly to have been more 
faithful, and more ready to give account. 

Q. What is the meaning of " usury," in verse 27 ? 

A. " Interest " on the money ; or, rather, the proceeds 
which the money would have brought, if it had been 
properly invested and employed. 

Q. Why was it just that the talent should be taken 
from this servant, and given to the faithful one ? 

A. Because the faithful one had shown that he could 
turn it to a good use. 

Q. What feeling do the terms " weeping and gnashing 
of teeth " indicate ? 

A. Shame, disappointment, and intense anguish. 

Q. How is this parable related to that of the ten 
virgins ? 

A. This teaches us active Christian duties ; that one 
contemplative : this working for Christ ; that watching 
and waiting for Him. (St. Mark xiii. 34.) 

Q. What other parable does this one very much re- 
semble ? 

A, That of the ten pounds. 

Q. In what does this differ from that ? 

A. In that, the same sum was given to each of the 
servants ; while in this, the sum in every case is different. 

Q. What are we reminded of by this circumstance in 
this parable of the talents ? 

A. That every human being has his own peculiar gifts 
or talents. (Eph. iv. 8-12.) 



LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 155 

Q. What was doubtless the design of the Creator in 
producing this variety amoug His children ? 

A. To render mankind useful in different ways, so 
that all important works might be done. 

Q. Looking at your companions, what are some of 
the " talents " that different individuals among them are 
intrusted with ? 

A. One has an excellent memory ; another, ingenuity ; 
another, a strong and healthy body ; another, riches. 

Q. What has every one ? 

A. Something by which he can do good and please 
God. 

Q. By whom are all these gifts bestowed upon us ? 

A. By our Heavenly Father. (1 Cor. xii. 4.) 

Q. What is further taught us in the parable ? 

A. That for every power or faculty we have, of body 
or mind, and for every opportunity, we shall be called to 
account by the great Giver, just as the servants were 
called to reckon with their master. (Eccl. xi. 9.) 

Q. What is further taught here ? 

A. That those who have little property, or leisure, or 
intellect, are jubt as really accountable for what they have, 
as those that possess more of these things. 

Q. Shall we be held accountable at last for the 
amount of what was given us at our birth, or only for 
the use we shall have made of it ? 

A. Only for the use we shall have made of it. 

Q. What appears from verse 29 ? 

A. The more good we do, the more shall we be able 
to do, and the more shall we love to do it. 

Q. What is equally true on the other hand ? 

A. The more we indulge ourselves in any kind of sin, 
the harder will it be to resist temptation. 



156 LESSONS ON THE PAKABLES. 






Q. If this is the case, what ought you to resolve and 
strive to do ? 

A. To resist the beginnings of evil in my mind. 

Q. What glorious and animating promise is held out 
to you in verses 21 and 23 ? 

A. I am told that for every little thing in which I am 
conscientious and dutiful, I shall receive a great blessing 
from my Father in heaven. 

Q. But if you are idle and complaining, and do not 
use every power of doing good, what have you to fear ? 

A. The dreadful punishment of the "unprofitable 
servant." 



LESSON XXXV. 

PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 

Q. What gives a peculiar interest and solemnity to 
this parable of the sheep and the goats ? 

A. It was the last parable uttered by the Saviour, 
being delivered by Him just before His trial and cruci- 
fixion. (St. Matt. xxvi. 1-2.) 

Q. How is it connected with the passages and par- 
ables preceding it ? 

A. From the verse that introduces it (St. Matt. xxv. 
31) we learn that the subject is the same that was begun 
in chapter xxiv., the " coming of the Son of Man." 

Q. What have we seen that " coming " to be ? 

A. His actual descent from heaven to reign on earth. 

Q. Is there not great appropriateness in His speaking 
of " coming in His glory " ? 

A. (See verse 31.) 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 157 

Q. To what does Jesus compare Himself in this par- 
able ? 

A. To a king on a throne (verses 31, 34), assigning 
to his subjects such rewards as they deserve. (Rom. 
xiv. 10.) 

Q. What are all the good compared to, in verse 32 ? 

A, To sheep. 

Q. What are all the bad compared to ? 

A. To goats. (Ezek. xxxiv. 17-24.) 

Q. Why are the good said to be placed on the right 
hand of the Saviour in His kingdom, and the bad on the 
left (verse 33) ? 

A. In the Jewish courts, on the right hand of the 
judge was a place of honor ; but on the left a place of 
disgrace. 

Q. By whom is Christ appointed thus to exercise 
judgment ? 

A. (See St. John v. 22.) 

Q. In what touching words does Jesus address those 
who have been faithful ? 

A, He calls them u ye blessed of my Father." 

Q. What does He invite them to come and enjoy ? 

A. The peace and purity and all the happy employ- 
ments of the heavenly life, which were prepared and in- 
tended for them from the beginning of things (verse 
34). 

Q. What actions are mentioned as having been per- 
formed by these faithful persons ? 

A. (Verses 35, 36.) 

Q. But as Jesus is not among us in a mortal form, 
how can we perform similar good actions, and gain His 
approbation ? 

A. (Verse 40.) 






158 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. What, then, should we do now ? 

A. We should look around to find those who need our 
sympathy and assistance, and feed the hungry, be kind 
to strangers, clothe the destitute, visit the sick, and pity 
the prisoner. (St. James i. 27.) 

Q. If we do this with true zeal for Christ, how will it 
be regarded ? 

A. We shall be blessed for it, as if it were a service 
rendered directly to Jesus on earth. 

Q. What is the import of verses 37 and 38 ? 

A. These real friends of the Saviour are represented 
as disclaiming any merit, and as being surprised that 
their good deeds should be mentioned. 

Q. What do we call this feeling ? 

A. Humility, or an humble opinion of one's own char- 
acter and deserts. 

Q. Must not every real Christian feel that after all he 
is very deficient, and has done far less than he ought to 
do, when he remembers what God and his Saviour have j 
done for him ? & 

A. His humility will increase as his Christian life, 
grows. £ 

Q. How is it made plain that we serve and please oui|j| 
great Master, when we do good to mankind ? 

A. (See verse 40.) 

Q. Whom does the pure and holy Jesus condescend 
to call His " brethren " ? 

A. The whole human family ; even we are the objects 
of His tender and affectionate regard. 

Q. What fearful sentence is pronounced on the wicked, 
or those on the left hand ? 

A. (Verse 41.) 

Q. What are the wicked then to dread ? 






LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 159 

A. Banishment from the happy society of the good 
into the spiritual darkness, where all evil and corrupt 
spirits dwell in unspeakable misery. (2 Thess. i. 7- 
10.) 

Q. On whom must this punishment fall ? 

A. (See verses 42, 43.) 

Q. How does the contrast between these two classes, 
the good and the evil, come out yet more clearly in 
verse 44 ? 

A. The evil are proud, and pretend that they have 
done their duty ; while the good, who have really done 
it, feel ashamed of their shortcomings. 

Q. But is there any such thing as deceiving the 
Great Judge ? 

A. We can never deceive Him, for He knows all the 
secrets of our hearts. (Ps. cxxxix. 2.) 

Q. What answer, then, must the sinful receive ? 

A. They must be told that whenever they are un- 
faithful to any duty, — whenever they are selfish, sensual, 
\ passionate, or profane, — they directly offend against the 

Imre spirit of Jesus Christ, as much as if His bodily form 
were before their eyes at the moment (verse 45). 
Q. How is the whole parable concluded ? 
A. (Verse 46.) 

Q. What, then, is the portion of the wicked ? 
A. Spiritual wretchedness inconceivable. 
Q. What is the portion of the righteous ? 
A. Spiritual joy, life, peace, deeper and higher than 
we can now fully understand. 

Q. When did these judgments, indicated in this par- 
able, begin to be executed ? 

A. Immediately after the time of Christ, and espe- 
cially at the destruction of the Jewish nation, when the 
unrighteous were severely punished. 



160 LESSONS ON THE PARABLES. 

Q. How long will these judgments continue to go 
on ? 

A. As long as we continue to be conscious and re- 
sponsible beings ; that is, forever. 

Q. Where, then, is the only way of safety, as well as 
our highest and most precious privilege ? 

A. In repenting of our sins, and in receiving the Lord 
Jesus Christ into our hearts, by faith, to be to us both a 
Saviour from our sins, and our Eternal Life. (St. John 
iii. 16 j 1 St. John v. 12-15.) 



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